You're Mine Sequel
by KatPeeta23
Summary: With six kids, four hardly able to dress themselves and more kids to come, Katniss and Peeta really have a hassle. Not to mention the rebellious teenagers that do whatever they want when they please. But Katniss is Katniss, and she won't put up with it. This is the sequel to You're Mine.
1. Chapter 1

I turn into the driveway at eight at night, and either the kids were staring out the window, or my headlights flashed, because I don't even have the car shut off before they're running towards me. I get out and leave the car on. Addison gets to me first.

"Finally you're home!" she gasps. "Gosh Mom, I've missed you so much!" I hug her back.

"I've missed you too honey." I whisper, and I kiss the top of her head and hug Ryan, who is right behind her. He's fifteen, and Addison is twelve. Elizabeth is four, and then Caden, Juliette and Cody, the triplets, they're two. Ryan and Addison are adopted.

"You better not leave again Mom." Ryan says. "Dad's really stressed out."

"He is?" I ask. He lowers his voice.

"He's been really short tempered lately and when the triplets or Elizabeth or any one of us do something bad, he runs his hand through his hair and sighs really loud. I think it's because he misses you."

Addi nods. "Yeah Mom, he does miss you. I noticed he's been happier today and he smiled like twice."

"He doesn't even smile?" I ask. Elizabeth and the triplets aren't out here, and I'm assuming they're in the bath.

"Not really." Ryan says. "But you'll straighten him out, right?"

"Of course I will." I reach inside the car and shut it off, and get my phone off the charge and just leave everything else in the car.

"Where is he?" I ask.

"He's giving the little ones a bath. Elizabeth _really_ misses you and she refuses to sleep unless you come tuck her in, but you haven't been home for six months, so she's been crying herself to sleep. I think that's a lot of why Dad's stressed." Ryan says.

"I think she thinks you're never coming home." Addi whispers. I sigh.

"It seems your father's been…" I lower my voice to a whisper as we walk into the house and shut the door. "…Not telling me stuff?" All my kids know I can't stand when he doesn't tell me stuff. I always know when he's hiding something, and I often beg and plead and argue with him until he caves and tells me.

Ryan nods.

"Okay, I'll be right back. Where's Elizabeth?"

"She's probably in her room playing babies or something."

I nod. "Okay. Do they know I'm home?"

"No. We didn't tell them."

I nod and go upstairs. I know they're in Peeta and I's bathroom. I make sure I'm super quiet.

"Daddy is Mommy really coming home?" Elizabeth asks. She must have gone into the bathroom with them.

"Yes she is." Peeta says.

"Do you promise she's coming home? Is she going to be home to tuck me in tonight?"

"I promise." Peeta says, and then he sighs, "She's supposed to be home, but the drive from the airport was three hours and she might have had a delayed flight. The door is closed over, and I'm standing right outside of it, eavesdropping.

"So she might not come home?" she asks, and I hear her voice crack.

"I don't know honey, maybe not." Peeta sighs. I hear Juliette, one of the triplets, splash and then giggle. Elizabeth bursts into tears and comes running out of the bathroom. I'm standing behind the door. She slams the door, and I grab her hand lightly before she stops.

She screams. "MOMMY!"

I move out of the way of the door. I laugh softly. "Hi honey."

"You came back! You really did!" she lifts her arms up at me and starts jumping up and down. I pick her up.

"Of course I did. You didn't really think I would leave you guys hanging, did you?"

"You're home!" she buries her head in my shoulder.

"I see Mommy Daddy, I clean!" I hear the kids moving around in the tub and then the water draining, and then Peeta opens the door. I put Elizabeth down.

"Mommy!" the kids say in sync. I kneel down, and they all run for me. They're still all wet, and they completely soak my shirt, but I don't mind in the slightest.

I hug them back, and then stand up. "How about you four go to your rooms and I'll be there in a second to get you ready for bed, okay?"

"Okay Mommy!" Elizabeth says. "I'm going to sleep so happy tonight!" she runs away, and then the triplets walk after her. I stand up and look at Peeta.

"Hi." I smile, and he laughs and gives me a huge hug. I hug him back, slipping my hands underneath his shirt. I always do that, and he loves it. He lets out a long sigh. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." I whisper.

We don't move for a couple of minutes and then I push the door shut and pull his shirt off.

"What are you doing?" he asks. I smile.

"The usual." I pull of my shirt and bra and jeans and pull his shirt over my head, and then I toss my clothes in the hamper and get a pair of black short shorts for bed and I put my hair up in a bun. He changes into sweats.

"We've missed you." He says.

"Yeah, I know. I missed you guys too. A lot. We need to talk about that actually."

"About what?" he asks.

"Something, but not right now, because all I know is you haven't been telling me something."

"Not been telling you what?" he asks.

"Something." I open the door.

"What is it?" he asks.

"Something."

"Awe come on." He teases. "Please tell me."

"Nope." I peck his lips. "Not now." I go into the triplets' room. They've dropped their towels and they're walking around naked. I put on their diapers and then dress them for bed and tuck them in.

"Are you going to stay the night?" Juliette asks.

"Honey, I live here. I'm not leave again unless I have to work."

"Yay!" she says. I smile and kiss her forehead, and Cody's, and then Caden's.

"I love you guys." I tell them, and then I shut their door over and go tuck in Elizabeth.

"Tomorrow you will be here, right?" she whispers, half-awake already.

"Right." I kiss her forehead.

"Mommy?" she asks.

"Hmm honey?" I whisper.

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course." I sit down on the edge of her bed. Tiredly, she grabs my hand. I let her hold it.

It doesn't take long, only a few minutes. Her eyes shut, and her hand goes completely limp. I kiss her forehead and get up. I shut her door over and go downstairs.

"Why?" Ryan asks.

"Because I said."

"You like the little one's better because they're blood!" he turns around and storms past me upstairs.

"I agree with Ryan!" Addison snaps, and she too storms past me upstairs.

"What the hell did I miss?" I ask. I know the kids are going to eavesdrop on our conversation.

"They want ice cream." He says.

I actually laugh. "And?"

"And I told them no and they got mad."

I look at the clock. "Why the hell can't they have ice cream?"

"It's late." He says.

"Peeta, they're fifteen and twelve."

"So?"

"That's fucked up."

"Why? Katniss, it's late and they're-"

"Does it matter how late it is? They don't have school for another two days." They're on summer break.

"I know."

"So why does it matter how late it is?"

I hear Ryan whisper something to Addi and she snickers.

"Because they're still young."

"Peeta, honey, Addi is going to be thirteen in a month, and Ryan is _fifteen_. I didn't even ask my parents for stuff when I was his age."

"Well that's just you."

"So you always asked?" I put my hands on my hips.

"Yes I did." He says.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Okay." I pick up the home phone and call Mrs. Mellark and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" she asks.

"Hey."

"Oh Katniss, your home, how was your flight darling?"

"It was alright, a lot of turbulence. I have a question."

"Alright, what is it?" she asks.

"When Peeta was fifteen, did he ask for things?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like…did he ask for ice cream or food or something when he wanted it?"

She laughs. "Katniss honey, Peeta stopped asking when he turned nine."

"Oh he did, did he?"

"Yes he did." She pauses. "Why?"

"Well he's just lied to me. That's why."

"Oh. I'm sensing some tension. I'm going to hang up. I'll call tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright," I say. "Bye."

"Bye honey, I love you."

"I love you too." She hangs up.

I put the phone back on the dock and look at Peeta.

"Okay, so maybe I lied, but just because we did it, doesn't mean they can."

"Peeta it's summer and it's only eight thirty. Be reasonable."

He lets out a prolonged sigh. "Fine."

"And you need to apologize to the kids for making them even think you don't love them at much as you love the little ones."

"They know I love them just as much." He says.

"Honey, if they knew, they wouldn't have said that."


	2. Chapter 2

I wake to screaming. It's coming from the bathroom downstairs. It makes me panic.

"MOM!" Addi screams. "MOMMY!" She sounds like she's crying. "MOMMY PLEASE COME HERE!"

I fly up out of bed and trip on the sheets. I sprint downstairs. Peeta looks alarmed and confused. "MOM!" She keeps screaming. I slip into the bathroom. "Help me!" She drops her voice to a whisper.

"You started your period, didn't you honey?"

She sits down on the edge of the tub and starts sobbing.

"Stay right here."

"Get rid of the boys." She says. "Please? And don't tell Ryan. He's going to make fun of me."

"Okay I'll be right back. And I'm telling your father."

"Why?" She whispers.

"He probably is going to guess anyways and he'll probably do it in front of the boys." I slip out the door.

"What's wrong?" Peeta asks, panicked.

I grab his head and pull his ear down so it's right against my mouth. "She started her period. Take the boys and go somewhere. Take them to the fields or something."

He looks at me in shock and is about to start asking questions but I peck his lips to shut him up. "Don't tell anyone." I hiss.

He nods. "Hey boys," He says. "Let's go play football."

"Can you help me so I can make the football team this season?" Ryan asks.

"Yeah, let's go." He gets Cody and Caden and leaves.

I walk into the bathroom. "What do we do?" She asks.

"We need to find a pad or something and I'll take you to the store to get you stuff."

"I don't want to grow up yet." She whispers.

"I know honey. I didn't either, but that's reality."

I start looking around for a pad but I don't have one. I only use tampons.

I go back to the bathroom. "How badly are you bleeding?" I ask.

"I don't know what is considered bad." She says.

"Well let me see then."

She looks at me and I sigh. "Honey, I'm not a creep. I'm your mother." She pulls her pants down. "Oh that's not a lot. Just stay here and I'll go to Johanna or Annie."

"Are they going to make fun of me?" She asks.

"No, they're probably going to freak out and come running over." I kiss her forehead and walk out of the bathroom. I get dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and brush my hair with my fingers.

Elizabeth follows me and Juliette lifts her arms up at me. I pick her up and walk out of the house and down the street to Annie and Finn's. I don't knock, I just walk in. They're going to be decent because Ben is here and he is four years old. He was born like a week or two before Elizabeth was.

"Kitty!" Finn says; walking into the living room, working his way around Juliette to hug me. "You're home!"

"Yeah, is Annie here?"

"Yeah, and Johanna and Blight, so I came out here because I heard you come in," I nod.

"Uppie Uncle Finny!" Elizabeth lifts her arms up to him. He picks her up.

"Guys, guess who's here!" He calls, and then he walks into the den where everyone is.

"Elizabeth!" Mason and Ben say in sync.

"HI GUYS!" She giggles. I walk into the room and put down Juliette.

"Auntie!" Mason, Johanna and Blight's son says.

"Hi honey." I ruffle his hair, and Ben's.

"Brainless." Jo hugs me and then Annie and then Blight. "Where's the rest of the bunch?"

"Addi's at home and the boys are at the park with Peeta."

"They went without you?" Annie asks.

"And you left Addi alone?" Finn raises his eyebrows.

"You don't ever leave the kids alone, except for Ryan." Jo crosses her arms.

"What really brings you over here?" Blight asks.

I let out a long sigh. "I woke up today to Addi screaming. Like really screaming, and she was crying. She just kept screaming for me to go to her."

"Why? Is she okay?" Annie looks concerned.

"Yes, she's fine. She was in the bathroom."

"Wait..." Johanna connects it first. "Oh my god, she started her period!"

Finn and Blight immediately engage in a conversation about football.

"Yes she did. The thing is, I don't have pads, I use tampons. I know she won't want to use those.

"Oh." Annie says. "I have a pad." She gets up and walks away, and comes back with a pad. "I'm coming with you."

"Me too," Jo says.

We walk out with Elizabeth and Juliette. The two of them join hands and run.

Juliette trips though, and pulls Elizabeth down with her and they slide across the dirt road. They start screaming. I run over to them and help them up, and I manage to pick both of them up. They keep screaming the whole time I take them home and scream louder when I use peroxide. They do calm down when I put the Mickey Mouse band aid on and put them on the couch.

...9...

After dinner, we're laying on the couch watching a movie. My head is on Peeta's lap, Elizabeth is on my stomach and the triplets are at my feet. Addi and Ryan are on the other couch. My phone starts ringing and I groan in annoyance when I see its Ellen DeGeneres. I flip the switch so the phone is on mute and sigh dramatically and bury my head in Peeta's abdomen.

"I want to go and disappear." He runs his fingers through my hair.

Nobody says anything for a little while.

Then I feel Peeta's legs tense beneath me and then she shifts.

"Mom you know that the paparazzi know where we live, right?" Ryan says.

We live in a _very_ small down in Oklahoma.

"How?" I ask.

"I don't know, but the other day, I was walking to see Sae, and some guy with this camera stopped me and asked for our address."

I stare at him. "And you said?"

He hesitates. "Ryan William, what did you say?"

"I said…" he sighs loudly. "I said it was none of his business."

"Great! That's probably why Ellen just called me!"

"Why?" He asks. "What's so bad about it?"

"Everything anyone says about me gets shot right back at me!" I almost shout.

"How about you kids finish the movie while your mother and I go talk?" Peeta blurts.

"Well I didn't know that." He says. "I wish you and Dad would just be _happy_ again." All you ever do is yell at us! It's really upsetting actually! It's like you don't even care!" he gets up and storms upstairs. Addi sighs loudly and stands up.

"He's right." And then she walks away. Elizabeth stands up too.

"Yeah, why can't you be nice anymore?" she walks away too, and the triplets all get up because everyone else did.

"Yeah!" Juliette says, and then Caden and Cody follow the other three upstairs.

I break down crying, because it's true.

"Katniss," Peeta begins, but I shake my head and get up. He gets up too.

"I just need some time, okay? We'll talk later."

He sighs. "Baby, please talk to me. I don't like when you don't tell me stuff."

I want to go see my idiot brothers.

Actually, they're Peeta's idiot brothers, but my idiot brother-in-laws. They live here and Graham's married with a six month old and Rye's engaged and his fiancé is expecting a son. I just need someone to talk to.

I'll talk to Peeta. I'm closer to him than I am to anyone else anyways. I know the kids are eavesdropping and I don't care because I think they really need to hear this.

"It's too much." I start pacing. Peeta knows I'm about to pour out every feeling I have right now.

"What is?"

"Everything is! I feel like…gosh I don't know! I'm so stressed. I feel like the entire universe is on my shoulders! No matter what I say outside of this house, outside of this town, it's wrong, even if it's right! They always twist my words! I _hate_ being away from you guys. I don't like sleeping in a cold hotel room all alone! I don't like waking up and not seeing your guys' faces! I've been like this since right after Elizabeth was born! That's why everyone's distanced themselves from me! I snap at _everyone_ and I don't like it! What happened to the old me? I was never like this before! I don't want to do this anymore! I want to disappear so the media can't find us and I want to be able to be happy and be able to go out without being recognized! I want to actually have a relationship with my sister again, and I want to be home for Christmas and Thanksgiving, which I haven't been since Elizabeth was one. I've never spent a single Christmas with any of the kids except for her. Peeta, I don't want to do this anymore, but I have to because if I don't we go bankrupt. The last time I talked to my mother was like seven months ago, and that was so she could ask me if I had any pictures of myself when I was little. I don't know when the last time I talked to my Dad is. I think my parents are mad at me because they never get to see any of us anymore. Hell, they see Finn and Annie more than they see us."

"We still have the bakery…" he trails off. "And as for your parents…we'll visit."

"And the one in New York closed down last year and this one is so rural that nobody knows where it is! It's not making enough money to get us by with six kids. If I stop working, I'll be hunting all the time."

"Well then we have to open more bakeries." He says.

"But that puts stress on you. I just want everyone to be happy."

"That won't put stress on me."

"You're lying."

"No, really Kat, it won't." he insists. "We could put it right in California and put another one in New York or something. We could put them somewhere big and right when they see the last name Mellark, they're going to think of you. You won't even need to work because we'll be making so much money that it's like you still are working."

"Peeta opening a bakery could take forever."

"No it won't. We can last until then. Are you forgetting how much money we have?"

"Peeta…" I bite my lip.

"Nope." He shakes his head. "I've made up my mind. Now stop crying, okay? I hate when you cry. Just _be happy_, okay? Please? You're making it rain in my heart." I wipe my tears away.

"Alright, now it's your turn." I say.

"My turn to what?"

"Tell me everything you've been keeping from me for the past six months. Tell me why you've been a snippy ass to the kids and why you've hardly smiled."

"The kids told you." He says plainly.

"Of course they did, and if they didn't, I'd have made them anyways."

He lets out a long sigh. "It really feels like it's raining, Katniss."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"In my heart when you're not there, it's like a thunder storm. It's flooded, and the only person that can dry up the flood is you. It seems like the kids hate me or something, and they think I don't love them. I'm constantly being told that they hate me, especially by Ryan and Addi, and then Elizabeth refused to sleep, and at one point she refused to eat, and the twins cried themselves to sleep. When you're alone with a fifteen year old, a twelve year old and four kids that can't even dress themselves yet, without help, and you're all by yourself with nobody to help you, without the person they really need, it's hard. So yeah, I got a little bit snippy. I just want them and you to know I love you. And…Elizabeth kept saying you weren't coming back. She said it all the time, every day, every chance she got, every time you were mentioned, she would say 'she isn't coming back because she don't care' and then we all started to believe her. I think I did too, actually." I start crying again, but it's not bad. "Katniss the time away from you makes my heart groan in pain and go numb, and it's terrible. It hurts. It hurts so much. It's hurting all of us. And the worst part is…and the kids _who I know are listening to us_ can testify…when you come back, we all think you're going to leave again. It's scary. And then you leave, and then it all goes back the same. Elizabeth not eating and sleeping, Addi and Ryan hating me, the triplets crying themselves to sleep and so on…it's like a never ending cycle."


	3. Chapter 3

_The space in between us_

_Starts to feel like we're worlds apart_

_Like I'm going crazy_

_And you say it's raining in your heart_

_You're telling me nobody's there to dry up the flood_

_Oh, but that's just crazy_

_'Cause baby, I told ya I'm here for good_

_My love's like a star, yeah_

_You can't always see me_

_But you know that I'm always there_

_When you see one shining_

_Take it as mine and remember I'm always near_

_If you see a comet, baby, I'm on it_

_Making my way back home_

_Just follow the glow, yeah_

_It won't be long just know that you're not alone_

_I try to build the walls to keep you safe_

_When I'm not around_

_But as soon as I'm away from you_

_You say they come tumbling down_

_But it's not about the time_

_That we don't get to spend together_

_Oh, it's about how strong our love is_

_When I'm gone and it feels like forever_

_My love's like a star, yeah_

_You can't always see me_

_But you know that I'm always there_

_When you see one shining_

_Take it as mine and remember I'm always near_

_If you see a comet, if you see a comet, baby, I'm on it_

_Making my way back home, my way back home_

_Just follow the glow, yeah_

_It won't be long just know that you're not alone_

_You say the time away makes your heart grow numb_

_But I can't stay just to prove you wrong_

_Oh, look at how far we've come_

_Don't you know, don't you know that you're the one_

_Oh, you're not alone_

_You're not alone, oh_

_You're not alone, oh_

_You're not alone, oh_

_Know that you're not alone_

_You're not_

_My love's like a star, yeah_

_You can't always see me_

_But you know that I'm always there_

_Know that I'm always there_

_When you see one shining_

_Take it as mine and remember I'm always near, yeah_

_If you see a comet, baby, I'm on it_

_Making my way back home_

_Making my way back to you_

_Just follow the glow, yeah_

_It won't be long just know that you're not alone_

_Yeah-yeah, yeah, oh, oh_

The audience applauds and then Ellen puts the show on commercial. I left home this morning with a promise to be back before they go to school tomorrow. Tomorrow is their first day back. Ryan is going into ninth grade and Addi is going into sixth, and I refuse to miss it. Until a few seconds ago, nobody knew anything about that song aside from Haymitch. Mom and Dad and Prim and Peeta and _nobody_ know what I'm about to do, except for Haymitch.

I wait backstage until I'm called out.

"Now let's give a warm welcome to Katniss Mellark!"

I walk out onto the stage, force a smile and wave and sit down. I know this is going to turn serious.

"That was really just a beautiful song." Ellen says. "What inspired it?"

Here we go…

"Well…I guess it was sort of…a wake up call to myself, and a goodbye…" I bite my lip.

"A goodbye? A wake up call?" she narrows her eyes. "I'm sensing a serious interview."

"Yeah." I sigh.

"Let's start with the wake up call." She says.

"Well I kind of realized how much my family needs me."

She raises her eyebrows. "I'm confused."

I explain everything, not the stuff she doesn't need to know like how the kids tell Peeta they hate him, but the basic stuff.

"Oh." She says. "So your family is falling apart without you." She says.

"Basically. I love my fans but I love my family more."

"So the goodbye…"

"Is to this." I say. "For good but last time, I thought it was for good, but it wasn't. Now it is, for my kids and husband."

"What about the rest of your family?"

I look down. "I guess I'm ashamed."

"Of what?" she asks.

"Of me and I mean…I don't know when the last time I talked to my Dad and sister was, and the last time I talked to my Mom was months ago, and it was so she could see if I had any baby pictures of me. I miss them. I don't even know if they miss me. I couldn't even blame them if they didn't."

"But surely it can't be that bad? There must be some way you can continue work."

"No." I shake my head. "I can't. It's bad. I didn't realize how bad it was until yesterday. For example…I have six kids, and the only one I've ever spent a holiday or a birthday with is Elizabeth, and even then, it was only one time."

"So go home for the holidays." She says.

I shake my head. "No. I'm not going to leave home. I need to be home with my family."

She nods slowly. "I would do the same thing if I was in your boat. I'm sure everyone understands."

…a….

I get home at eight that night. "I'm home!" I call, tossing my keys on the table. I'm enveloped in hugs.

I can tell by the looks on their faces that they saw Ellen.

Peeta and I have to have the talk with Ryan and Addi, and I'm really not happy about it. It's inevitable, especially since Ryan is going into high school. The chances of it happening to him are slim to none, but still, it needs to be said.

I tuck the little ones in and go downstairs and look at Peeta. He's shut the TV off and got Ryan and Addi sitting on the couch, wondering what's going on.

"Um…are we in trouble?" Ryan asks.

"No." Peeta says.

"Well then why does Mom look like she's going to start crying?" Addi asks.

"I just…you guys need to be aware of the stuff going on around you. You need to watch who your hanging out with, and when you meet someone you like, you better not do anything major. If you _ever_ let anyone alone with you…actually, don't let anyone alone with you."

"Don't care them." Peeta mutters.

I sigh.

"Mom, what's that supposed to mean?" Ryan asks.

"Do you guys know what rape is?" I ask bluntly.

"Yes." Addi says, and Ryan nods.

"Yeah, but so what? The chances of that happening to one off us isn't very great." I almost cry, because I used to think the same thing.

"When I was sixteen I was dating this guy named Cato. Aunt Prim and your grandparents went out to dinner and left Cato and I alone to study and he raped me." Their faces go completely serious. "Uncle Finnick found me. That's why we're so close. Now…I'm not saying it's going to happen to you, but still, I want you to watch what you do. It doesn't mean you need to be terrified of anyone else, because not all people are animals, it just means that you need to watch yourself. Never go for someone until you are absolutely one hundred and infinity percent sure that they will never do anything to hurt you."

"Is this just supposed to be a story to scare us into doing the right thing?" Ryan asks.

"No." Peeta says. "This is true. This actually happened."

"Now…" I take a deep breath. "You guys need to _please_ be careful, okay? Don't be alone with someone, okay? If you have friends that alright, okay? I mean, you can have guy friends." I nod at Addi. "And you can hair girl friends, and it doesn't mean they're going to do something, but still. Your right Ryan, the chances are low, but still, I just want you to be careful. Also, if you see someone being bullied, don't watch it happen. Don't you dare bully anyone, okay? Don't be annoying." I look at Ryan. "Don't make the seniors mad. They don't care who you are. They will go at you. Don't be a follower, be a leader. Don't don anything I wouldn't do. Pay attention in class and take notes when the teacher is talking. If you get bad grades, I'll kick your ass."

They nod.

"What if we get bullied?" Addi asks.

"You tell your mother and I and let us take care of it." Peeta says.

"And if they don't stop?" Ryan asks.

"Then we will go from there, now go on up to bed." I hug both of them and kiss their forehead. "I love you. I love you both.

"Love you too." Addi says.

"Love you too." Ryan says, and then he hugs Peeta. It's a guy hug. "Love you Dad."

"Love you too." Peeta says, and I can tell how much it means to him. Addi hugs him then.

"Love you Daddy."

"Love you too." He says.

The two of them go upstairs.

…..a…

My alarm goes off at five thirty in the morning on the dot.

I get up to find Ryan already awake and getting ready. "What do you want to eat?" I ask. He looks at me for a moment.

"Will you be insulted if I asked Dad to cook for me instead of you?"

I smile. "No, I would be relived."

"Is Dad asleep?"

"Yeah. I'll go wake him up." I go upstairs and back into my room. Slowly, I crawl across the bed and kiss Peeta awake. He stirs and starts kissing back, but before he can get too involved, I pull away. "Ryan wants you to make him breakfast."

He rolls over and mumbles something. "Peeta." I whisper. He groans. "Come on baby, get up." I kiss his cheek. He groans again. "If you get up I'll make Johanna watch the kids so we can fuck." I whisper in his ear. He sits up and stretches.

"I'm up." He says. "I love you." He adds, and kisses my forehead as he pulls on sweats over his boxer briefs. He uses to wear boxers but I begged him to try boxer briefs because it's like eye candy for me when he's in his underwear. I think he likes them and won't admit it. I get up and follow him downstairs. Ryan has on a simple pair of skinny jeans that aren't too tight and a blue t-shirt that's tight. He is fit. He has gray vans on, too. Peeta makes him cinnamon apple pancakes. I lean in the doorway of the kitchen and watch Peeta. Ryan eats, quiet. Peeta looks at me and shoots me a scolding look and just his eyes downward, angled at his body. I frown slightly and follow his eyes and see I'm giving him a boner.

I'm not even doing anything hot. My hair is messy and knotty, my shirt is baggy because it's his and I don't have a bra on. As a matter of fact, I slept in this and underwear, and I still haven't put pants on.

I bite my lip really hard to keep from bursting out laughing.

"What if nobody likes me? I don't want to be a loner." Ryan says, panicked.

"If you become a loner, you go find another loner and become friends." I say, and Ryan laughs.

"I can already see it." He says.

"See what?" I smile.

"Your happy. Your smiling more. You guys are both happier." He stands up. "I'm ready to go."

We were going to have him go to the school in the town but then decided against it because all the schools in this town are really shitty so we're going to drive him out of town and pick him up. The same thing applies for Addi.

"Who's driving you?" Peeta asks.

"Um. It doesn't really matter." He says.

"Yes it does. Who do you want to drive you?"

He looks at me and then Peeta. "Mom, can you drive me today, and then Dad, can you drive me tomorrow?"

"Yes." Peeta says. "Have a good day? Remember everything we've told you."

He nods. "Love you." He says.

"Love you too."

I hand Ryan the keys. "Go get in the car. I'll be there in three minutes."

"Okay." He takes the keys and grabs his backpack and walks outside. I jog upstairs and hurriedly pull on jeans. I go into the bathroom and brush my hair and start braiding it. It's been three minutes already. I pee, because I know I'll piss myself if I don't, and then I go into my room and take my shirt off and start putting a bra on. Someone, Peeta, comes up behind my and clasps it for me. I pull one of my t-shirts over my head. He hands me a thermos.

"Coffee." He says.

I kiss him. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." He tucks my bangs, which aren't long enough to make it in the braid, behind my ear. "Drive safe." He hands me my phone.

"I will." I peck his lips again and then slide on flip flops and go downstairs and outside.

"Kat," Peeta calls before I get in the car. I look back at his and he tosses me my wallet. "Your license."

"Oh yeah. Thanks."

"Your welcome. I love you."

"I love you too." I smile and then get in the car.

We drive pretty silent for a little while, and then Ryan says "Am I ever going to meet my grandparents and aunt?"

That reminds me that he has never met my Mom, or anyone from my side of the family really, except for Haymitch.

"Yes. You will meet them for Thanksgiving."

"And Dad's side will be there too?"

"I'm sure. I don't know yet, but you will meet them, I swear it." I pull up to his school. "Have a good day. Remember everything I've told you. Don't piss if people don't be a leader, watch your back." He nods.

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too honey." He gets out and shuts the door. I force myself to drive away.

...8...

Johanna's watching the kids and I'm just about to fuck Peeta when my phone begins to ring. I almost don't answer it until Peeta says it's my mother. I am literally sitting on top of him in nothing but my underwear, but I snatch it up.

"Mom?" I ask.

"Hi honey," she says, and her voice isn't right.

Something's wrong. "Hi. What's wrong?"

She lets out a long breath. "Honey, I know you really don't need to hear this right now, but...I have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia."


	4. Chapter 4

I'm on my feet in seconds, pulling clothes on. "You have leukemia? When were you diagnosed?" Peeta immediately gets up and starts getting dressed.

"I was diagnosed last week."

"Mom, are you going to die?" I whisper.

She lets out a shaky breath. "Probably."

"Why? Leukemia is curable!"

"For lots and lots of money. Nobody has that kind of money. It's like a million dollars to completely cure me. Honey, there's no way. Your father and I are broke. We can hardly afford the phone I'm on now."

I start crying. "Mommy." I sound like a little girl again.

"I'm sorry honey. I'm so, so sorry."

Peeta takes the phone from my hand and pulls me into a tight hug.

"We're coming to visit." He says.

...8...

Everyone came with us. Rye and Graham and Christina, Graham's wife, and Emma, Graham's daughter who is six months and then Ashley, Rye's fiancé and then Jo and Blight and Mason and Finn and Ann and Ben and then my six kids and then Peeta obviously. I haven't spoken much in the last few days; I've just sat with my head in my hands. I know the kids have school, but if my Mom is going to die I want them to at least meet her.

I need to be positive. She only got diagnosed a week ago. She's my mommy, the woman who birthed me and fed me and brushed my hair and rid my fevers and dried my tears. She raised me and if I don't help her in going to lose her. Finn is taking it just as hard as I am. Peeta slips his hand under my shirt again and be starts rubbing my back.

"She's going to be okay." Peeta says. "Don't you worry."

...8...

I want into the house and know immediately something is up. It's nighttime and all the lights are off. It smells like all the food has gone bad. I reach over and feel for the light switch that I know is there and flip it on. It doesn't work.

"Maybe the power is out?" Finn suggests. I feel my way into the kitchen and the nauseating smell intensifies. Something tells me it isn't the power.

I try to turn on the sink and it doesn't work. That means they went broke and they haven't been paying bills.

"It smells like smoke." Ryan says. I hear the front door shut.

"There's a light in the backyard." Christina says. I walk out of the kitchen. We can't see each other at all.

I walk over to the backdoor and open it.

Mom is sitting in a chair, and she's skinny and pale, and Dad is sitting across from her. They're surviving on food from the woods. I walk all the way out of the house. Dad catches my eye and smiles. "I almost thought you weren't actually going to come." Mom turns around in her chair, and it takes every ounce of my willpower not to cry in front of the kids. She's so pale it's like she's a sheet of fresh printer paper, and she has bags under her eyes.

I connect the dots right away. "You weren't actually diagnosed last week, were you?" I ask.

She looks at Dad and sighs. "No."

"How long ago were you diagnosed?" I ask. Peeta comes outside, and then the triplets come running, and Elizabeth follows, and then everyone else comes. Ryan and Addi linger behind me. She doesn't answer me, and I feel my anger rise and my heart drop. "Mom."

"Last year."

I lose it.

"Last year!"

"Katniss," she sighs.

"Mom." I whisper, and I'm about to break down again. "You didn't tell me? You were diagnosed last year and you didn't tell me?"

She shrugs.

I shut my eyes and angrily wipe away the tears. "You're on deaths door, aren't you?"

"I wanted to tell you before it was too late."

"But you still can be cured." I walk over to her. "Right? TThere has to be something."

"It's way too expensive. We've tried everything. It's way too expensive sweetie, it's like half a million dollars."

"I have half a million."

"Well I'm not going to let you spend your money on me."

"Well you're not in charge of what I do."

"No, but Peeta is, and he won't let you spend half a million dollars."

"Actually um…" Peeta hesitates. "I was kind of going to do that anyways."

"Well you can't." Mom says. "Your father is in charge of what happens to me."

I look angrily at Dad, and the fire reflects off my eyes. "So you plan on letting her die?"

"No."

"What?" Mom asks.

"Lillian, this was my plan all along. I knew Katniss and Peeta were going to pay for it. Love, I know Katniss is way too stubborn to be told no."

"No. I won't let you."

"You don't have a choice. I'm not going to let you die." I say.

"I'll kill myself!" she stands up and wobbles slightly. She's only in her very early fifties. "I'm not going to let you spend all of your money." She starts shaking her head.

"I'm pregnant." I blurt.

Her eyes widen. "What?" she asks. Everyone has stopped what they're doing.

"You heard me. I'm pregnant. You're going to live. You're going to do it for me and Dad, for Juliette and Caden and Cody and Elizabeth and Addi and Ryan, and for Ben and Mason and Peeta and for the baby on the way. You are going to live because you are like the head of the family. We aren't a family without you. You're going to live for the baby."

She narrows her eyes. "You're lying." She says, "You aren't pregnant. You're lying."

"I'm not lying." I insist, and I know she's falling for it.

Prim walks out of the house out of nowhere. "If you have quadruplets I'm going to laugh my ass off." she pauses. "Mom, you aren't going to die."

"It's my time to go." She says. "God has made his choice."

"If god wanted you to die he wouldn't have given you a curable cancer." I retort. "Now I'm going to pick your ass off the cold hard ground and there isn't a single thing you can do about it."


	5. Chapter 5

Mom is going to be really angry with me. Today I took her to the doctors and I already have her treatment started, and then I dropped her off at home and went and got all her power back on, and the water and everything, and then I went to the grocery store. I came home and she was sleeping upstairs, and she still is right now.

Now, I'm cleaning the whole entire house, every nook and cranny. Mom comes downstairs just now.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asks.

"I'm cleaning. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Why? Stop it."

"Mom!" I look at her in anger. "Stop complaining! You should be thanking me! I'm saving your ass!"

"I don't want to be saved." She crosses her arms. "I'm not going to listen to the doctor."

"Oh yes you are, because I'm going to stay here until you're cured and make sure you do."

She crosses her arms. "Addi and Ryan have school."

"Oh I don't mind never going to school." Addi says, and Ryan snickers.

"Well they can just go home then."

"Um…" Peeta trails off. "No."

"Then I'll call the school and get them classes online until they can go back."

Mom hesitates. "Did you buy Swiss rolls?"

I smirk. "They're in the cabinet."

She falters. "I'm sorry." She says. "For being a pain, I know you're only trying to help." She hugs me and I hug her back. "I love you honey."

"I love you too."

The news is out to the media that Mom has cancer because the doctor that is curing her has a loud mouth. Dad is at work right now, and he left early this morning so he doesn't know anything I've done today.

Mom comes out of the kitchen with a Swiss roll. "By the way honey, I know you aren't really pregnant."

"Yeah, I know you do." I shrug.

She sits down in her chair. "Is Cato still in jail?"

"Mom." I sigh loudly and look at her. "Don't talk about him in front of my kids please."

"Well I'm just asking because there's a rumor that they let him out." She says.

"How about you kids go play outside so the adults can talk?"

Ryan rolls his eyes. "I'm fifteen."

"I'm aware."

"I don't want to go outside."

"Well do it anyways." I reply. All of the kids get up and go outside, except for Emma, obviously, because she's six months. I decide the house can't get any cleaner and put away the cleaning supplies.

"I'm serious. It was on the news. Prim told me."

I look to my sister. "Yeah Kat, I saw it online."

"It better be fake." I grumble.

"So how's the sex been?" she asks.

"Mom!"

"What?" she asks innocently. "Answer the question Katniss."

"I'm not answering that."

"Okay, Peeta, how has the sex been?"

"You don't have to answer her." I say.

"Have you been active?"

"Um…like once in six months." I mutter.

"That's depressing." Johanna says.

"Why aren't you having sex?" Mom asks.

"Because I've been gone."

"Ah yes, the tour." She nods. "That's unfortunate, really. You can go and have sex now."

"Mom please stop talking about sex." I plead. "It's disgusting."

"Clearly you don't think so, what, with six children. Katniss, darling, you love sex."

"Mom please stop talking."

She laughs. "Well am I wrong?"

"Nah, your right," Peeta says, and I glare at him and he smirks.

…..a…..

A few hours later, when the sun is down, the kids come inside.

I start counting mine, because it calms me, when I get to six.

But there aren't six, there are five.

"Where's Caden?" I ask. Everyone looks around.

"I thought he was inside." Ryan says.

"Well he isn't." I say. "Where is he?" my motherly worry is raising with every second that ticks past. "Ryan, were you even watching them?"

"I'm not a baby sitter." He grumbles.

"He's probably just still outside Mom." Addi says.

"Yeah honey, just check outside."

I go out back and call out his name, but I don't get a response.

I look out into the dark forest. "He's not out here!" I go back in the house.

"Alright, okay, there are a lot of us. Let's go look for him." Graham says calmly. "Ashley, how about you stay with the kids, since you are pregnant?" Concern is in her eyes, but she nods. Rye kisses her and stands up.

"Mom, I can come." Addi says.

"I don't know Addi, it's late and dark and you don't know the area and your only twelve."

"Addison can just come with me and your father." Mom says.

"Mom, you aren't coming." I shake my head.

She sighs loudly. "I don't want to be cooped up."

"When the cancer is gone and you are back, I'll take you out somewhere fun. I promise."

She sighs. "Fair enough,"

"How about Addison and Ryan come with me?"Dad asks. "And then Peeta can go with you, and everyone else goes with their significant other?"

"Whatabout me?" Prim demands.

"You can come with us." Dad says.

"Why doesn't Addi go with Prim and Ryan go with you? That way, we have more people looking for him?"

He hesitates and then nods. "Let's go."

Peeta looks at me and I walk out into the backyard and right into the forest. He uses the flashlight on his phone as I retrieve my bow and arrows from the tree.

"Stay by me please." I tell him, and he nods.

We set out, shouting his name every now and then. Hours pass, and it's eight in the morning and we don't have Caden back.

What if Cato really did break out and he's got my son?

Just the thought makes me burst into tears. It starts pouring then.

"Katniss, honey, we're going to find him!" Peeta says.

"What if Cato has him?" I shout.

"Cato doesn't have him. He's not that stupid."

My ears perk up at the sound of something.

Is that…crying!

"Caden!" I shout, running in the direction of my little boys cry.

He's sitting with his head on his keys, sobbing his eyes out, shaking. His shirt is gone and I think he peed himself. He's only two years old, and he probably peed right through his diaper.

"Caden!" I gasp. He looks up.

"MOMMY!" I pick him up.

Peeta comes out from the trees and I see his whole face flood with relief. "Thank god you're okay!"

….a….

"Katniss…you got mail." Mom says, and she sounds extremely confused. Since I was eighteen years old, I've been getting mail at my own house. I've never once gotten a letter here since then.

"I did?" I ask.

"Well your name is Katniss Joy Mellark." She says.

It doesn't say who it's from. There's no return address, which means the person delivered it by hand. I know the handwriting of every person I know, and I feel like I've seen this handwriting and it looks like a boy wrote it. "Well read it out loud because now I'm curious." Finn says.

I open the letter and pull out the piece of paper. There's something else in there and there's a lot of whatever it is, but I just settle with the letter for now, being careful not to wake Caden, who is sleeping on my chest with his ear on my heart.

"_Dear Katniss Joy Everdeen Mellark."_ I pause. "That's creepy."

"Agreed, now keep reading." Jo says.

_You don't actually know me, but I know you. I know everything about you and your family. I even know stuff the some people don't, like the fact that Elizabeth weight six pounds and three ounces when she was born. (That makes me sound like a pedophilic stalker but I swear I'm not.) I'm your biggest fan. I'm twenty three years old and you really are just incredible and amazing and beautiful and sexy, but I won't press the territories because I know Peeta will probably find me and kick my ass, and I am married. Anyways, I heard about your mother and her cancer, and that's really unfortunate. I just want you to know that we all care and although you're done with your career in the public, I will always respect and love you. Now, as I see it, the price to fix the cancer is highly expensive. _

_But you see, I'm a billionaire. I have more money than I'll ever need, and my business is still going strong. I have a beautiful family, my wife and my daughter, whose name is Joy, after your middle name_.

"This guy's creepy." I say.

"Is that all he put?" Peeta asks.

"No. There's more."

I go back to reading.

_But I get your situation with your mother. I lost my own mother to leukemia, and my grandmother, and my sister died of breast cancer. Since you are so amazing and you have such a big family, smile, and heart, I refuse to let you feel the same pain. Since I have so much money with even more coming, I've given you two million dollars. Use it to heal your mother. I know there will be more than a million dollars in change, but I did that on purpose. Give it to someone in need. Maybe your parents? Your sister? Johanna? Finnick? Maybe save it for the children to go to college because Ryan goes in three years anyways. Now, I've seen how you act enough times to know you are stubborn and will immediately return the money. _

_So I was smart _

_I don't plan on putting my name on this, and I wore gloves so it can't get fingerprinted. I'm not telling you where I work or anything. So either you drain your bank and you and Peeta go broke and live in the gutter with six kids, or you use this money, heal your mother and not lose money. _

_It's your choice Katniss, so choose wisely. _

_Sincerely, forever unknown._

We're silent for a long time, and then I open the envelope. "Holy crap."

"He can't be serious." Prim says, ripping the envelope from my hand.

"We can't." I start shaking my head like crazy. "No. No way."

"Katniss…" Peeta hesitates. "Why not?"

"You want to use two million of this strangers money?" I ask.

"Well…he gave it to you to heal your Mom, and he is right, we could very easily go broke-"

"Then I'll go back to work if that happens."

"No!" the kids say in sync, and then Caden stirs on my chest and then stills again.

"Fine, but I thought we were opening a ton of bakeries?"

"We are, but still. We don't know who it's from and we'll never find out."

"Okay and what if it's counterfeit? What person in their right mind goes and gives away two million dollars?"

"Your fans," Peeta says.

"If it's counterfeit we get in trouble." I insist.

"I say you use it." Mom says. "And you won't get in trouble if you show them the letter."

"She's right." Dad says. "What's the harm?"


	6. Chapter 6

I lie awake, the moonlight filling the room enough for me to see my hand.

Something is tugging desperately at my brain.

And that's when it clicks.

I _never_ announced how much Elizabeth weighed, so how did that person know that she weighed six pounds and three ounces?

Jennifer Lawrence knows, and Peeta's side of the family.

Peeta's side of the family…

That handwriting…

I remember watching someone write something over their shoulder and explain something. It's hard to remember who.

Peeta's parents are billionaires, but I would know their handwriting right away.

That leaves Cinna.

And it had to be him.

I sit up. Peeta and I are sleeping in my old bedroom and we get the room to ourselves. I throw my leg over his groin and kiss him awake. He starts kissing back, and I can already feel his dick getting hard beneath me. I force myself to pull away.

"You just like torturing me." He mutters. "Why won't you help my situation?"

"I will, just let me tell you something." I say.

"What?" he asks, reaching up to cup my cheek.

"Cinna put that letter in the mailbox."

"What makes you say that?" he asks, moving around beneath me to bug the shit out of me until I drop it and relieve him.

"The handwriting." I get up and he groans in complaint, but stops when I lock the door. "Now, if we're going to do this we need to be almost silent." He nods like crazy. "I'm never the loud one." He smirks. I sit down on his dick and lean down with my arms on his chest.

"So?" I whisper.

He outs his hands on my shoulders and moves me back to he can sit up, and then he pulls my shirt off. "I love you."

"I love you too."

…..a…..

I secretly watch the kids from the front window. They're in the front yard today. I was sitting on the couch and I got this overwhelming protective motherly feeling, and I've been standing here ever since, and that was an hour ago.

"Katniss you have no reason to be paranoid." Peeta says. I ignore him.

That's when I see it. There's a man across the street two hours down. He's sitting on a metal chair, and he's just staring at my kids and nephews. Once again, Emma isn't out there. Only my six and then Ben and Mason.

I furrow my eyebrows. The wind blows and takes Elizabeth's sundress with it and shows off her pink sleeping beauty panties. She doesn't even notice.

But that creepy guy does, and he stands up and starts walking toward the lawn.

"What the fuck?" I wait to see if he's going to approach my kids.

"I think Mason's in danger."

Johanna stands up and Annie joins us.

The man walks over to the lawn and holds out a lollipop.

Everyone but Addi and Ryan start jumping up and down.

"He's a pedophile!" I rip open the front door and walk out if the house. "I'm sorry, is there a problem here?"

He looks at me. "Just giving the children candy is all."

"Yeah? I saw you over there, staring at the kids."

He scowls. "I wasn't going to do anything." Johanna comes out and picks Mason up and goes back into the house, and then Annie does the same to Ben.

"I have that peas?" Juliette points at the lollipop still in his hand.

"Daddy said he has something for you guys." I blurt. "How about you go get it?" I look at Addi and Ryan and they understand and take all the kids inside.

When the doors shut and I'm absolutely one hundred percent all of them are in the house, I turn back to the man. I hear the window slide open and I know they want to hear what I'm going to say. "You stay away from my kids and nephews."

"I wasn't even doing anything!"

"Stay away from them! If I see you near them again, I'm going to call the police. As a matter of fact, if I see you sitting in that chair staring at them again, I'll call the police."

He sighs. "Fine."

"Good, now get the hell off of this property." I turn around and go inside. I look out the window and watch the man until I can no longer see him, and then I turn to my kids. "You guys never, ever talk to a stranger. You never take anything from a stranger. I don't care if it's your favorite food, a toy you've wanted, I don't car what it is, okay? You never socialize with anyone that isn't your age that you don't know."

"Mommy I want lollipop." Cody says.

"Do you understand?" I ask, completely ignoring Cody talking about the lollipop.

"Yeah mommy. Can we get lollipops?" Elizabeth asks.

"Tell me what I just said." I reply.

"Mommy I wasn't listening." She says.

"I know you weren't."

"Look," Peeta says. "The people that you don't know are bullies. You can't talk to them, okay?"

"Why are they bullies?" Elizabeth asks. "He was giving me a lollipop I wanted."

"Yes honey, but it was a bad lollipop. Candy that is from bullies is very, very bad for you. You never take anything from people you don't know."

"Okay." Juliette says. "He was mean you, Mommy. You okay?" She's only two years old and her speech is a little all over still.

"I'm okay."

"Let see?" She asks.

I sit down in front of her and she presses her ear against my chest. "Okay." She giggles. "When am I going to get those?" She points to my boobs.

"Yeah Mommy, they're soft. I want some." Elizabeth agrees. "Can I have one? You don't need two."

I laugh. "I can't share them. You will have two when you get older."

"Promise?" she asks.

"I promise."

"What do I get when I get older?" Cody asks. "I don't want those."

"Well you don't get them, so don't worry."

"I don't want those either." Caden says.

"You don't get them."

"So I get to look like daddy?" Caden asks, and he looks at Peeta.

"Close enough." Peeta smiles.

...8...

Later that day, all of us are resting outside. Peeta's in the grass, shirtless, face down, sleeping. He's in direct sunlight.

"He's going to get sunburnt." Mom says.

I sigh. We've been out here for three hours. He was sitting in the grass with the triplets but they get up and started to okay hide and seek, and he just never got back up. He feel asleep about two hours ago. I look at my baby and stands up. "I should let him get burnt. I won't though. I'll feel bad." I go into the house and get the sunscreen, and them I walk over to my sleeping baby and sit down on his legs.

"Katniss." He whines. "What are you doing?"

"I'm putting sunscreen on you."

I squirt the cold lotion on his back.

He jumps, knocking me off of him. "That's cold."

"I know, but you need it." I lather him up in it, and his complaints stop.

"I love you." He mutters.

"I love you too." I lean down and kiss his cheek from behind.

I look at my kids and realize they're going to get sunburnt and then be miserable and I know for a fact that they blister when they burn. I wish they're for my skin where you just tan and not burn. Elizabeth is the only one that got it. I stand up.

"Hey." Peeta says. "Don't go."

"I'll be right back. I'm just going to put sunscreen on the kids." I walk over to Juliette. "Come here sweetie."

"Mommy I'm playing!" She whines.

"I know honey. It'll only take a second." She sits down on the ground and let's me put sunscreen on her on any exposed skin. Addi walks over to me and puts sunscreen on herself and Ryan does the same. I stop Cody and coat him, and then Caden. I just go ahead and do Elizabeth too, because I'm paranoid.

"Brainless." Jo says. "Can I have that?" She points to the sunscreen.

"Yeah sure." I hand her the bottle and walk back to Peeta. He's sitting up.

"You didn't put any on." He says.

"I know. I don't burn baby, you know that."

"No, you need some on." He insists. Jo gives the sunscreen to Finn because Annie went inside because her back hurts. Prim had gone home to be with her fiancé, which I just now found about. When Finn finishes it, Peeta's has him toss it to us. It hits me right in the head and Finnick roars in laughter. Cody stomps over to him.

"No hurt my Mommy!" He stops his foot down on Finn's, his little toddler hands in fists.

"We should correct him, but he's protecting you so it doesn't matter." Peeta chuckles. Cody walks over to me and kisses the back of my head.

"Mommy okay?" He asks.

"I'm okay honey." As Peeta coats my chest and shoulders, I coat his chest and shoulders because I only got his back.

Ryan and Addie sit down with us. "How long are we staying here?" Ryan asks.

"Um, as long as it takes to treat the cancer. Well, at least I'm not leaving till she's treated. Why?"

"Because it takes two and a half years to treat leukemia." Ryan says. "I'm not spending any more time without you Mom."

"Yeah. I'm a girl. I need a Mommy." Addi says. "And I know we have school. It's just a matter of time until you send us home with Dad and the triplets go back to crying themselves to sleep and Elizabeth goes back to not eating or sleeping. You'll miss her first day of kindergarten. I refuse to go back without you."

I sigh. "Yeah, I know."

"I kind of have to talk to you about that." Peeta says quietly. "Later though."

"I like it better here anyways." Addi mutters.

Ryan sighs and lies down in the grass.

I look back at the kids. They seem much happier here. The sprinklers come on and water starts going everywhere, soaking all of us, but nobody complains because it's so hot out here. The kids start screaming and dating each other to run through the sprinkler. Caden and Cody run over to us. "I take it off?" He asks. His shirt and pants he means. I let them take them off. They run around and I turn back to Peeta. The adults join our conversation. Prim shows up with her fiancé Jared, who I have never met. The sprinklers shut off after ten minutes and then Mom just puts the hose into the sprinkler she bought specifically for the kids.

We're all sitting and talking and then I see Peeta's entire face go completely pale. His eyes are huge and hems staring over my shoulder. I look behind me to see my two boys have stripped naked and all of the kids are jumping in a mud puddle. Mason and Ben are naked, too. Elizabeth is just rolling around in the mud in her panties, laughing, and Juliette is naked as well.

Everyone seems to be frozen, except for me. Dad is the only one not out here, because he went to make lunch, and Annie came back out.

"Oh my god." I say. "Hey!"

I stand up and shut the water off.

"Mommy I like that!" Cody stops his foot.

"Let's go. You need a bath now."

"Mommy no." Elizabeth sits down.

"Are you arguing?" I ask, and I know I scare them. Her eyes get all wide and she shakes her head.

"No."

"That's what I thought." I take my four kids. "You guys stay right here. Don't move."

"No, I'm going to play." Elizabeth walks away. Peeta gets up and takes her back to the door.

"Stop arguing." He says.

"I WANT TO PLAY!" She screams. All the kids start throwing a tantrum. Finn and Blight gets their sons and make them stay by the door and then there's six screaming little kids. I open the door and slip inside. I go upstairs and start the bathtub in the bathrooms. There's two bathrooms upstairs and one bathroom downstairs. I do the bathtub downstairs too and then I get a dirty towel and go outside.

"I have all three bathtubs running. I'll get them one by one." I grab Mason first and Blight follows me. I get Ben then and then the rest of the kids. They scream and cry the whole time they're in the bath.

"I can watch the kids while you shower." Dad says.

"Are you sure?" I look down at my moaning children.

"Yes." He says.

I grab Peeta's arm and take him upstairs.

"We need to talk, baby girl." He says to me as I get my clothing and start the shower. He retrieved his clothing from his suitcase.

"Okay, about what?" I kiss his cheek.

"Well," he shuts the door and locks it. "Curing cancer takes a while." He pulls my shirt off me. "And I hate to say it but I refuse to be away from you. It's inevitable."

"Okay..." I narrow my eyes.

"I know you honey." He says, pulling his shorts off and leaving his boxer briefs on. I can't stop my eyes from flicking downward and back to his eyes.

"Okay?" I ask. He smirks.

"And I know you won't leave until your mother is in excellent health. Addi needs her mother. All the kids do." He unclips my bra and pulls it off. "I need my girl." He continues. "Maybe we could move here." He pulls off his boxers.

"You don't like Oklahoma?" I ask.

It's not that I don't like it sweetie, it's just that we're going to be here for a while and…the kids seem happier here. It's more local, you know? Like…you get your groceries from a grocery store instead of a stand, you know? And it's not in the city, and it still has farms and everything and you still know everyone, so it's still rural, but it's still nice, and I like it here." He takes my underwear off. "The kids can't keep missing school." He warns. "They're already behind, even though we've been gone like two or three days. What do you think?" he steps closer to me, kisses me, and then he undoes my braid.

I did grow up here in this town, and I know a lot of the people and the teachers…we could put Elizabeth in preschool. The only reason we didn't back home is because the preschool was shit and one of the teachers went to jail for dragging a child across the carpet. Again though, I know everyone here. I know Ryan and Addi want to live here, and I'm sure Elizabeth, Juliette, Caden and Cody do, too.

"I mean…it's not exactly a bad idea…" I bite my lip. "But Jo and Annie and Finn and Blight and our nephews…Peeta, I don't want to miss their lives."

"I understand, but I think Finnick would want to stay. After all, your mother is basically his as well. And Johanna basically likes staying near us and Finn and Annie. I'm sure she'll want to stay. _And_ you'll be with Prim. She's getting married soon, baby."

"There aren't very many big houses. I don't think it's right to make Ryan or Addi share. I don't even think it's right to have them share with Elizabeth."

"What about that one house? The gigantic gray house?" he asks.

"My old friend lives there."

He frowns and then shakes his head and pulls me into the shower. "No she doesn't because there was a for sale sign."

"Peeta…are you sure?" I ask while he moves me under the water and watches me with hungry eyes as I soak my body. I step out of the water and watch has he soaks himself, and I start squirming and I see him laughing at me.

"I'm sure. I think we should look into it. There's a nice rich front yard, and a back yard too." He says.

"Okay. Not today though, because the kids are giving a hard time and I don't want to leave them with my parents."

"Okay. Shut your eyes." He says. I do, and he starts washing my hair. He will stand there for ten minutes and just wash my hair. I usually give him five before I politely remind him we are wasting water. "If you think about it…we're only about thirty minutes out of Louisville. I could open the bakery there. We could survive off of that until the cancer is done and over-with, and then we can open the rest of the bakeries all over the country. Actually, I think I'm going to talk to my Dad, because he opened up bakeries all over Paris and the US, and he never left home except for maybe once for a few days."

"Okay. Someone should really tell your Mom that my Mom has cancer. They're good friends."

"Yeah, I know."

I pause. "Hon, we're wasting water."

"So?"

"Babe," I warn.

"Fine." he groans. "I hate water." I smile and he washes the soap out of my hair. "You said your friend lived in that house?" he asks.

"Um yeah, I used to go to her house on weekends and shit."

"Who was it?" he asks.

"Oh, actually, it was Jen."

"Seriously?" he asks.

"Yeah, I thought her parents still lived there but…" I let out a long breath. "I guess not."

"Maybe it's for sale by owner." He says. "There was a car in the driveway."

"I don't know. I'll just call Jennifer. She's going to know." I pause. "Are you done yet? We've been in here for a while. Ryan and Addi know what sex is."

He roars in laughter and washes down my body. I know I'm distracting him, and his dick is proof. We always wash each other. I wash his hair and he just keeps laughing. "I love you." He says with a sigh. I kiss his soapy cheek and wash out the soap.

"I love you more."

I start washing down his body and he sighs three times and then smiles. "If you say so."


	7. Chapter 7

I don' know how he did it, but when Peeta and I go downstairs a few minutes later, Elizabeth, Juliette, Caden and Cody are all asleep, completely taking up the couch and making everyone, including my mother, sit on the floor. Well, Mom is up and taking a million pictures of the kids.

"How on earth did you get all four of them to sleep at the same time?" I ask, shocked.

Mom smiles. "I did it." She says. "When you got fussy when you were little, I gave you tea with a bit of honey."

"Honey? You gave Elizabeth honey?" I start panicking. "She's allergic to honey."

"Calm down. I know what my grandbabies are allergic to. She didn't have honey."

I let out a relived sigh. "Good."

"If you guys took such a long shower because you were having sex and I see a hickey on Mom I think I might throw up." Ryan says.

Peeta starts laughing again.

"We were talking." I say.

"About what?" Addi demands.

"Well that's none of your business." I reply.

"Why don't we just tell them?"

"Katniss if you're pregnant I'm going to laugh my ass off." Prim says.

"I'll cry myself to sleep." Ryan says.

"I'm not pregnant. If I do get pregnant, that's just too bad for you." I reply. I pick up my phone and dial Jen.

"Oh yeah, I need to call my Dad." Peeta gets his phone as well, and then we both pause and trade phones, because he had my phone and I had his.

Now I dial Jen and go out to the front porch.

"Katniss!" Jen says. "I haven't talked to you in a while? How are you?"

"Stressed." I sigh.

"Does your Mom really have cancer?" she asks, and she lowers her voice.

"Yeah she does, but we're treating her." I reply. "How have you been?"

"I've been good." She says. "So why are you calling?"

"I actually have a question that might seem weird." I say.

"Okay, shoot." She says.

"Did your parents move out of their house?"

"They're selling it." She says. "Why?"

"Well…curing Leukemia can take almost three years and I don't want to leave my Mom or my kids and well, you had like the biggest house so we're moving here and we need a house that won't leave us cramped and your house is like perfect."

"You're moving in my old house?" she starts laughing. "That's too good."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well I can call my Mom and tell her you want the house. She knows you, so she kight even give you a discount."

"Oh I don't need a discount, just like…I can talk to them Jen, I just wanted to know if they still lived there because Peeta saw a car outside."

"Oh yeah, they do, but they already have another house."

"Okay, so…"

"I'll just call them." She says. "I'll call you back, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." She hangs up.


	8. Chapter 8

I don't want to be in the house anymore. It's cold outside today, well, cold enough that if you don't have on a sweater you'll shiver. It's fall, and it's October first, and it's chilly enough for me to see my breath.

Honestly, it's in the forties, so it isn't exactly cold. We sold our house in Oklahoma so fast it shocked me. Mom thinks it's because I lived there, and some rabid fan probably bought the house. We all agree. We still haven't moved out of my parents' house. We're moving into Jen's old house on Saturday. Peeta's parents are coming to stay with us for a while, and everyone is moving here, Rye and Graham and Christina and Ashley and Emma, too.

Peeta's parents are coming next Saturday. I'm going to be freaking out, because I'm OCD and a neat freak. Even though I'm close with them, I'm still their daughter-in-law and I'm married to their son, and they're my in-laws, and they judge me and I know it, just like how they judge Christina and Ashley.

Anyways, I've been stuck in this house for way too long and I feel like I'm losing my mind. It's early, only six in the morning. I shift my head on Peeta's chest. He's awake, and he has been for a half hour, and so have I. I trace patterns on his chest. He rubs my back with his arm slipped beneath my t-shirt.

"I love you." I whisper.

He pulls me closer to him and whispers, "I love you too baby girl."

I roll over to I'm on top of him. "I'm bored." I sigh. He chuckles.

"Me too, and I would say I have a way to amuse you, but the kids will be waking up soon." He shuts his eyes and sighs.

"Let's go on a walk." I whisper.

"Alright sweetie." He says. I sit up on top of him and get off, and then I get on jeans and a bra and a long sleeve t-shirt. He pulls on jeans and a t-shirt, and tosses me my coat as he puts on his own. "A fast one though, because the kids will wake up and wake your parents."

I nod in agreement and braid my hair and put on my boots and go downstairs and outside.

We head down the street, hands joined.

"I know your nervous for my parents to come." He finally says to break the silence, which wasn't uncomfortable.

I shrug. I refuse to admit to anyone but myself that I'm nervous. I haven't seen then since the triplets were born.

"Katniss." He stops walking. "Honey, you can talk to me. You know that, right?" he looks concerned.

"I know." I caress his cheek and start walking again. The only noise for a little while is the sound of our shoes hitting the gravel road, but then I hear a baby crying, and someone that sounds older being panicked and crying. I look at Peeta.

I met Ryan this way. I was coming out of a concert when he was eleven and I was just barely pregnant with the triplets, so barely pregnant that I didn't even know I was at the time. He was sitting on the ground in a blanket and he just looked so hungry. I found out he was an orphan and he ran away. I just ended up adopting him. I just decided to get Addison.

Peeta wants like ten kids, and I only wanted four, but now I kind of want more. I love my kids.

I look around, and Peeta does too.

Then I see it. There's this girl, probably only fourteen years old, sitting at a tree in a tank top and shorts, and she's freezing. She's holding a child, and older child, a little girl, probably at the age of five. The kid is crying hysterically. Both of them are cold and shivering, and the two of them look sick. They have on very limited clothing and it's clear they're alone.

I look at Peeta, and he looks at me, and then we're walking over to them. The girl stands up and looks like she's going to run. "It's okay." I say. "We won't hurt you."

"I'm not going back there." She hisses. "Just go away and leave me alone."

"Back where?" I ask.

"Back to that stupid orphanage, and it's not like I can anyways." She says.

"Why can't you?" Peeta asks. She shivers, and so does the little girl, and it pains me. I take off my jacket and hand it to her.

"No. You need it." She says.

"Not as badly as you do." I say. "Please. I want you to take it."

She doesn't take it for me, she just covers the kid. Peeta covers the older girl with his jacket.

"Why are you alone?" Peeta asks.

"Because my Mom and died right after my sister was born and we've been in an orphanage for six years and it burnt down. I ran away with my sister and we've been on our own for a while."

"Have you eaten?" Peeta asks.

"Like two bites or something I found in the garbage." Peeta runs his fingers through his hair.

"How long is a while?" I ask.

"I don't know, a week or two or a month. I'm not sure." She shrugs. "It burnt down on like the first of August."

"It's the first of October." I say. "Are you sick?"

"Yes." She says.

"Let's go." I decide.

"Um…no."

"I'm not taking you to the orphanage. I'm taking you to where we live. You're sick and so is your sister, and you're going to starve yourself to death soon. Either that or die of sickness. Come on."

"I don't want to."

"It's either you come or we call the police and you go to another orphanage." Peeta says.

She hesitates, but then gives in and follows us to the house.

We were gone for a half hour, and the triplets woke up and woke everyone up.

"What's this?" Ryan demands. "More siblings?" he sighs loudly. "Mom!"

"Stop it." I say.

"Is she at least my age?" he asks.

"Why don't you stop talking about her like she isn't even there and man up and ask."

He looks at the girl. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen." She says.

He nods in approval. "Same. What's your name?"

"Rosalee." She says. "Rosalee Harper. I don't have a last name."

"What's her name?" he points to the girl in Rosalee's arms.

"Her name is Jillian." She says. "She's five."

"Are you guys adopting them?" Mom asks curiously.

"Mom." I sigh.

"Probably…" Peeta says, and he looks at me and shrugs. "You're attached already. I can see it in your eyes."

I ignore him and hold my arms out for the kids.

Rosalee draws back and I sigh. "I'm not going to hurt her."

"How do I know that?" she demands. "You could be a creep."

"Hon, she's got six kids and four of them are younger than Jillian." Mom says.

Rosalee looks into my eyes and then sighs and hands me Jillian.

Peeta's right, I'm attached. I'm not taking _my_ kids back to the orphanage.


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay so today my old laptop completely busted. I wouldn't read anything on it. Luckily, my Dad bought me a new laptop because I need it for school. **

"We need to remember our house is seven bedrooms, we have eight kids and six rooms for them." Peeta says.

"So?" I ask.

"So..." He trails off.

"I'm not sharing a room." Ryan says.

"Yeah...please no." Rosalee mutters. We went and got the papers signed immediately.

"I don't want to." Addi says.

"The answer is simple. Ryan, Addi and Rose get their own rooms." I call Rosalee Rose and she hasn't complained. "Then Elizabeth and Jillian share, and Cody and Caden share, and then Juliette has her own room."

"I like that plan." Rose says.

The kids all nod in agreement. I've had Jillian and Rose relaxing. They're not sick anymore so everyone is happy and healthy.

"When am I getting my permit?" Ryan blurts.

I look at him, and at Rose.

"Study for the test and you can get it." I reply.

I have a doctor's appointment to take Mom to today. She's in the shower right now so I've been waiting. She starts chemotherapy today. Well, she's supposed to, but she doesn't have a diner, so this is really just a checkup because they can't help her without a stem cell transplant donor.

I get a phone call.

Lazily I reach over the grab my phone. "Yeah?"

"More kids, Sweetheart?" Haymitch asks.

"Yeah." I reply.

"What are their names?"

"Rosalee and Jillian." I sigh.

"Oh." He says. "You should really come back to work." He says. "Ellen wants you on the show really badly about your mom. She wants the kids on too, and Peeta. She said if you go she'll help fund your Mom's treatment."

"I don't want to."

"You can still make albums. We can set up a recording studio in your basement at your new house." He insists.

"And what about going in tour Haymitch? No."

"You don't have to go on tour, or just go in the summers when you can take the kids with you."

"He's right..." Peeta says.

"I want to go on TV." Rose says.

All the kids start freaking out about wanting to go on TV.

"I don't know." I mutter.

"If you release an album and wait till summer to tour, we won't even have to worry about you being gone. Let alone money, Katniss."

I shut my eyes. "When's the show? The kids have school and I'm not letting them miss any more days."

"I can schedule it for a Saturday." Haymitch blurts. "Then you can leave tomorrow."

It's Thursday.

"And what about Mom?"

"We'll still be here." Finn says.

I sigh loudly. "Fine, tell her I'm not singing."

...8...

"I'm scared." Elizabeth says. We're backstage and I'm making sure we have everyone.

"Don't be." I run my fingers through her hair. "Be on your best behavior. He respectful."

I don't even hear Ellen announce us until the security guard taps my shoulder. "You're up." He says.

"Okay." I start moving the kids up the stairs.

"Let's hope this ends well." Peeta says. I put the girls in little dresses and the boys in a button down shirt and jeans. Peeta takes my hand and I start ushering the kids out into the stage. Jillian starts going in the other direction. I grab her hand.

"Honey, right there. Follow Daddy."

"Okay Mommy." She giggles. The kids really don't know what to do. They just stand there until I get there, and then I start making them sit down. Ellen looks like she's trying her hardest not to laugh. I put Jillian and Elizabeth on Peeta's lap and then put Ryan, Rose and Addi next to each other.

Wait, where's Cody and Caden?

I look at Peeta and he smirks.

"I'll be right back." I rush off backstage and get my two youngest boys by the hand and bring them out on the stage. They claim my lap.

"Are we good?" Ellen asks.

I look around and count to nine. "Yes. Everyone's here." I let out a breath of relief.

"Okay." She says. "I don't even know their names."

"Okay." I say. "This is Rosalee, and then Ryan, Addi, Jillian, Elizabeth, Juliette, Caden, and then Cody."

She nods. "How do you do it?" She asks. "You're so young. How on earth do you do it?"

"Patience and counting." I reply.

"And same for you?" Ellen asks Peeta.

"Yeah. Although I'm much for patient than Katniss is."

I scoff. "That's not true."

"Yes it is." Ryan says.

"Okay...maybe just a little bit." I smile.

"Are they shy?" She asks of the younger ones.

"Well...it depends. Elizabeth is probably the most shy."

She nods. "Okay. So if I talk to them, they won't...cry?"

"No." I shake my head.

"Okay. Just making sure." She looks at Juliette. "What's your name?"

"I'm Juliette!" She smiles.

"How old are you?"

"I'm this much!" She holds up five fingers and I gently push down three.

"What is your favorite color?"

She looks around. "I like Daddy's eyes."

"Blue?" Ellen asks.

"Yes. I like Yellow too and purple and green and orange and pink."

"Alright. I have a question for all of you kids." All of their ears perk up. "Who is the strictest parent? Like...the one you're most afraid of."

All eight of my children point at me, and Peeta starts laughing.

"Really? I thought it would be Peeta."

"No." I shake my head. "The only time Peeta's ever been strict with the kids was when he told them they could have ice cream."

"And how are you strict?" She asks.

"Well...I don't know."

"I came home with a math test last week and it was an 89 B and Mom told me I was being irresponsible and I was smart enough to make a hundred and then she said that if I didn't get an A next time I'd be grounded for a month." Ryan says.

"So if you did something wrong, you would go to Peeta?" Ellen asks.

"No, I'd to go mom. She's still pretty chill. It depends on the situation. I go to Dad for stuff I don't want Mom to know about, but it's really pointless because Mom and Dad are like this," he crosses his fingers. "So anything I tell Dad goes right to Mom."

"So there isn't one single thing that Katniss doesn't know about?" Ellen asks.

"Well there's a few stuff she doesn't know about..." Peeta runs his fingers through her hair.

"There is?" I ask my husband.

"Yes."

"Oh."

"But they're not serious. Their guy things that a female wouldn't understand."

"Hence the reason I go to Mom for girl things." Rose says. "Like if I need pads or something. I'm not telling Dad that." she shakes her head. "The one time I did tell Dad, his eyes got all wide and his face got red and he said 'Katniss! Rose needs to talk to you!' And then he disappeared into his bedroom for an hour."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" Ellen asks Peeta.

"Not really. I mean...I've been with Katniss since we were like twenty two...she's always open when she's on her period and she doesn't really care who knows because 'it's natural and you need to learn to get used to it' and she's sent me to the store for her...products." He mocked my voice, and I scoff.

"So why did you react the way you did?" Ellen asks.

"Because the girls always go to Katniss for that stuff and if my

Girls get their period that means they can have kids and if they can have kids they might want to explore and I don't think any guy needs to be touching on my child."

I raise my eyebrows at Peeta. "Rose is fifteen."

"So?" He asks.

"Your all for Ryan having girlfriends."

"Because Ryan is a boy."

"So?"

He sighs. "I don't like it."

"Well...Rose knows she's allowed to have a boyfriend. As long as I meet them." I say.

"What if she doesn't tell you and you find out?"

"I'm going to be really mad."

"Why?" Ellen asks.

I might as well just say it.

"I have a bad history with guys." I shrug.

"Oh." She says. "Understood." She immediately changes the subject.

...8...

"Tables." I run around the whole house and I dust down tables and counters and wipe with them wet cloths and dry them and then I wash the windows and everything. We got the now house and I have a half hour to clean it up because Peeta left early this morning to start working on the bakery, but now he's getting his parents. It's been six days since we moved in, because they're coming a day early. The kids are at school and the triplets are asleep. I check every bedroom to make sure it's spotless. For now, Juliette will be in Elizabeth and Jillian's room so his parents can have Juliette's room. I run into the table and knock down a vase and it shatters. I hurriedly clean up the glass and vacuum the carpets and throw the shards of glass away. It's raining outside and it's cold. I get a text from Peeta that says: one minute.

I put away the vacuum and broom and everything and make sure the whole house is perfect.

I hear a car door slam out front.

"Mommy." Juliette lifts her arms up at me and I pick her up. "Nana and Papa are here?" She asks.

"Yes honey, but wait for them to come inside. It's raining."

She just woke up. She rests her head on my shoulder. She starts crying randomly. "I had a bad dream." She cries. "I forgot about it until now!"

In the past four years, I have hardly seen my in-laws, aside from Rye and Graham.

"It's okay honey. It wasn't real." I kiss her forehead. Thunder crackles loudly as the front door opens and rouses the kids on the couch. I rush into the living room and sit down, and Caden and Cody crawl into my lap with Juliette to calm my children.

"When's Daddy coming home?" Cody asks. "I'm scared Mommy."

"Daddy's home sweetie." I kiss all three of their foreheads. Elizabeth is at preschool, Jillian is in kindergarten, and the Addi, Ryan and Rose are in class. All three of the kids' faces light up and they run for the door. Peeta left early this morning, around four, so he could get to work on opening the bakery, and it's around eleven right now, but it's dark enough outside from the storm to mistake it for seven at night. I've missed Peeta too, and it's only been a couple of hours.

I follow them.

"Daddy! Your home!" Juliette squeals, and Mrs. Mellark puts her hand over her mouth at the sight of the kids, and I think maybe me, too.

"Of course I'm home." Peeta squats down in front of them, and I force my eyes away from his crotch. He always wears his jeans so his am dick strains and it's hot as fuck. He whispers something to them and they start jumping up and down and nodding and grinning. Peeta smiles and stands up, and looks at me.

"Why are you being so quiet?" He asks. I shrug. "Well, come here. I haven't seen you in five and a half hours and it feels like a century." I walk over to him and melt into his arms. He leans in so his lips are right next to my ear and whispers, "Mom has been gushing about you for the whole ride." He pulls away with a warning look in his eyes, and then he kisses me, and I fight the overwhelming urge to deepen it. He sees it in my eyes when he pulls away.

"Hi kids." Mrs. Mellark says. "You probably don't remember me, but I'm your Nana."

"I know all about you!" Juliette says. "Mommy says you're nice and you love me!" Mrs. Mellark looks at me and smiles.

"That's very true, honey. I love you, and all your brothers and sisters. I love your Mommy and Daddy, too, very much." Peeta winds his arms around my from behind and rests his chin on my shoulder.

He whispers, "You didn't want to stop kissing me."

I ignore him and he chuckles under his breath. "I'm going to help you out with that later."

I ignore again, because the kids are right here.

The kids run off to play. Peeta parents hug me. "Katniss I haven't seen you in such a long time! You are my daughter, you know. I have missed you so much." She starts to gush about how radiant I am and how Peeta's lucky to have me and Peeta jokes and says that he's lucky because he has all these kids and the Mrs. Mellark goes on a huge rant for an hour and a half about how Peeta needs to learn respect, and then she kicks him out of his own house.

The whole time, I'm biting my lip, trying my hardest not to laugh.

...8...

Peeta went to bed early, like really early, like eight at night. Something isn't right. He simply got up, kissed everyone goodnight, and went to bed. Ryan and Rose are the last ones up aside from me. Addi fell asleep on the couch and I put the little ones in bed at eight thirty. All of the house is white marble tile aside from the bedrooms and the kitchen. Peeta's parents went to be a little while ago. I wake Addi.

"What?" She whines.

"Why don't you go on up to bed honey?" I whisper.

"Where's Daddy?" She whines.

"He went to bed, why?" I ask.

She groans. "I wanted him to carry me."

"Come on honey." I pull her to her feet and look at Ryan and Rose. "Don't stay up past three." I warn.

"Four." Ryan says.

"Fine, four," I kiss both of their heads and lead Addi upstairs.

"Love you, Mom." Rose calls.

"Love you too, sweetie, both of you." I call back.

"Love you." Ryan says.

I lead Addi to her bed. "You need pajamas." I whisper, running my fingers through her hair.

She lets out a whine and gets up. She pulls off everything but her underwear and bra and tosses her clothes in the hamper, and then crawls into bed.

"You sleep with your bra on?" I ask.

"All the time."

"Honey, that's bad for you. Just take it off."

"Then I need a shirt."

"No you don't. Just sleep in your underwear."

"What if someone walks in?" She asks.

"Then they'll learn to knock."

"I don't want Ryan or Daddy or Papa to see my boobs." She undoes her bra and tosses it into the hamper.

"Papa always knocks, and so does Daddy. I'll tell Ryan to knock it he's grounded."

"Okay." She whispers, and the yawns. I tuck her in and kiss her forehead. I go to her door and shut the light off.

"Night baby girl, I love you."

"Night Mommy, I love you too." Her breathing gets quiet, and I know she's asleep. I shut her door all the way.

"Ry?" I call from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah?" He calls.

"You need to knock on Addi's door."

"I do anyways."

He says.

"Don't be snippy. Just say okay or yes ma'am and move on."

"Yes Ma'am." He says.

I tell him I love him again, and then go in and check on all the kids, and then I head down to the double doors to Peeta and I's room and slip inside. I take off all my clothes and walk into the bathroom and take a hot bubble bath, and then I put my hair up in a bun, put on panties, dry myself off, let my hair out of the bun and walk into Peeta and I's room. I go to Peeta's drawer and take a shirt, and then I pull the shirt on, shut the drawer and crawl into bed.

Immediately, he rolls over and pulls me against him. "I never went to bed." He mumbles. "I took a shower and came and laid in the dark." He buries his head in my shoulder.

"Why?" I whisper, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Because I don't feel good."

I pull away and sit up, concerned. "You don't feel good? What's wrong?"

"I'm just stuffy and I have a headache and my throat, god it hurts, and my eyes won't stop watering and my ear hurts." I feel his forehead to see he's burning up.

"You have a fever." I whisper. He shrugs. "I'll be right back honey, okay?"

"Katniss." He whines, and I realize how congested he sounds.

"I'll be right back." I repeat." He sighs.

"Okay."

I get up and change out his shirt. I put on a bra and a t-shirt, jeans and my boots, and then I grab my wallet and the car keys and go downstairs.

"Mommy it's one in the morning." Rose says.

"I know what time it is." I head for the door.

"Can I come?" Ryan asks.

"Yeah, I want to go." Rose says.

"Get some shoes on." I reply.

They disappear and a minute later they come downstairs with some shoes.

"Where are we going?" Ryan asks as we walk through the pouring rain to the car.

"We are going to the store because your father is sick."

"What store is open at this time of night in this small town?" Rose asks.

"We'll find something."

We drive around for a little while, and then it becomes more than a little while, and the next thing I know, it's three in the morning.

"Mom we've been driving for two hours." Rose rubs her eyes. "Nothing's open!"

I pull into my parents' driveway and get out. The kids follow me into the house. Dad comes rushing downstairs when he hears the door shut.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am getting medicine."

"Okay." He goes back to bed. I rush into the kitchen and rummage around in Mom's medicine cabinet.

"Ry, can you turn on the light please honey?" He flips the light on and I start reading the labels.

What can I use? I sigh in frustration.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Mom asks, and I feel thankful she's awake because she's a nurse.

"Peeta's sick and I don't know what medicine he needs."

"Well what's wrong with him?"

"He has a runny nose, a sore ear, a headache and his throat really hurts."

She nods and steps forward and grabs a bottle of pills. "It's for allergies."

"He doesn't have allergies."

"I realize that honey, but this will help. Do what the bottle says." Then she grabs NyQuil. "Give this to him to help him sleep."

"Okay." I hug her. "Thanks Mom." She nods. "Sorry for waking you. Go back to bed." I kiss her forehead. "Love you."

"I love you too." She says. "Drive safe."

"I will." Mom kisses Rose and Ryan's foreheads and then we head to the car through the pouring rain. The kids follow me and I race down the street to the house. I know they probably noticed we were gone. Peeta probably realized I hadn't come back with the kids yet and he probably got up. I usher the kids and I into the house.

"No. Take off your jacket and your shoes. You are not tracking the house with mud." The kids and I take off our shoes and jackets and walk into the living room.

Now I know how sick Peeta really is, because nobody is down here.

"Wow." Ryan says. "I'm surprised Dad isn't in here freaking out."

"Me too." I reply. "You guys need to go to bed." I say. They don't argue, because I know they're tired anyways. I kiss their foreheads and rush upstairs. I check on all the kids before going into my room. Hurriedly, I take off all my clothes and put Peeta's shirt back on. He's awake still, flipping through the channels.

"Where in god's name have you been for two hours?" He asks.

"Looking for medicine."

"Well you didn't answer the phone."

"That's because I forgot it here."

"Oh." He frowns. I crawl into bed with him and take his phone as a light, and then I read the label and give him the correct amount of pills. I grab my bottle of water and hand it to him. He takes the pills, and then I pour the Nyquil and make him drink it.

"Shut the TV off, please baby." I whisper.

"Why?" He coughs.

"Because you'll watch TV instead of going to sleep."

He sighs and flips off the TV, and then a few moments later, he pulls me into his arms and falls asleep with his hot forehead buried in my neck.

...9...

"Mommy." Addi whispers, waking me. "Someone is here. Two people. A boy and a girl. They want to speak with you." Peeta is still holding onto me.

"Tell them to leave." I mutter.

"They're persistent." She whispers. "They're scaring all of us and no adults are awake. Please Mommy?"

"Alright." I push out of Peeta's arms, change into actual clothes, brush my hair with my fingers and go downstairs.

I swear, I almost scream.

It's Cato and Delly.


	10. Chapter 10

I think about waking Peeta, but decide against it, one because he's sick, and two because he will kill Cato, no doubt if left unattended, and I may be strong, but I am not strong enough to refrain my piss husband. Also, if I wake him, he could very easily terrify all the kids, and make them scared of him, and I know he'll be _really_ upset if that happens.

But I'm scared…I don't want to scare my kids. Whatever, some foul language won't do much, right? If I tell them to go upstairs, they'll just eavesdrop.

"Why are you guys doing here?" I cross my arms tightly across my chest.

"Well, I came to see Peeta." Delly says.

"He doesn't want to see you." I reply coolly.

"He loves me." She says. All the kids are aware that Peeta was engaged, even the triplets.

"If he loved you, he wouldn't be married to me. We wouldn't have kids. I know Peeta better than you do, or anyone for that matter, and if he loved you, he would be with you."

All the kids must put two and two together about Delly. I see Addi starting to sneak upstairs. "Addison Violet Mellark, do _not_ go wake your father." I look back at her and she shuts her eyes and turns to me.

"Why?"

"Because I said no." she huffs and stays downstairs.

Rose, Addi and Ryan know Cato's name.

"What do _you_ want?" I hiss.

"You." He says. "Delly ad I figured if Peeta has Delly back and you have me back-"

"I don't want you back!" I snap, and I bite my tongue hard to keep from shouting.

"Why?" he takes a step closer to me and I hold my stance.

"You know damn well why."

He kisses me, and I hear all the kids gasp.

Fine, you want to play games.

I know I shouldn't, but Peeta's going to be really pissed when he finds out they were here. When he finds out _Cato_ was here and he just kissed me, he's going to be pissed at me that I didn't wake him up to let him handle it. If Peeta was on deaths door, he would still handle Cato. "Ryan." I say, glaring at Cato. "You know what to do."

Without a word, he disappears.

"Come on Katty, you loved it. Even back when we were sixteen you _loved_ it."

I guess Ryan was moving fast, because Peeta is standing behind me.

"What," he takes a deep breath, and looks so much healthier than he did last night, "The fuck…are you doing in _our_ house around _our_ children? He isn't even looking at Delly. He doesn't even acknowledge her. Why are you even anywhere _near_ my wife?"

"Because I love her."

Peeta takes a step forward and I put a strong hand on his chest and shoot him a _'the kids are all watching_' look. I see him give me a small nod and look back at Cato.

"Leave." He says.

"She wants me. I kissed her and she kissed me back."

"Bullshit." He says angrily.

"It's true. Look at her. You can see it in her eyes. Her eyes are black with desire."

Peeta looks into my eyes. "You can stay." He says suddenly.

What?

"What?" I blurt.

"Yes. You can stay."

….a….

Peeta locked the house and called the FBI because Cato is on the top wanted list because we found out from research that at the age of eighteen, he killed three little girls after molesting them.

I'm like a hawk. All of the family is here, and I just pace, glaring at Cato.

"Where are the girls?" he asks.

"Oh fuck off!" I shout. I put the kids, all of them, in Peeta and I's room to watch TV.

"Relax." He puts his hands up.

"Don't talk to her." Peeta says.

Cato sighs. "Come on Katty. I love you."

"Fuck. Off." I hiss. I hear a knock on the door. It's a casual knock, but Peeta opens the door and the FBI come flooding in. I see Cato's face flash in fury as they cuff him and order Delly to never come near us again. Then they leave.

I go upstairs immediately to check on my babies, and even though I know they're okay, I still hug all of them tightly for a good minute and kiss all of their cheeks and tell them I love them.

"Are they gone?" Ryan asks.

"Yes." I mumble.

"Okay." He says. He gets up and goes right downstairs, and all the kids leave.

I lay down on my side if the bed and wait. It doesn't take long for Peeta to come upstairs and slam the door. "Why the fuck didn't you wake me up right when you saw him?" He demands.

"Your sick...you get uncontrollably angry around Cato...the kids would get afraid..." I bite my lip.

"Katniss I don't care! He has taken advantage if you mentally and physically. I'm not going to stand for it anymore! From now on, if you see him or hear anything about him, you tell me, okay?" His voice is still very angry and sharp. I cringe.

"Okay."

"Okay." He sighs. "I want you to know that I'm not trying to be mean...it's just...you and the kids are my priority...you guys are my priority, and it's my job as the man of the house to protect my family. Okay?"

I nod again, and whisper, "Okay."

"Okay, now come here and stop acting like a scolded child."

I get up and wrap my arms around his middle.

He hugs me back, but it doesn't feel enough.

It's like I've been running for a long time and my lungs are trying for air, but every time I take a deep breath, I cough. The only way to relief the pain is by breathing. Right now, I'm struggling for air. I move my arms from his waist to his next, and then I jump up with my arms locked around his neck and I squeeze him tightly. He sighs lightly and puts his arms around the middle of my back and squeezes back. It feels good, like I've finally got that air, and I feel the relief. I sigh back.

"I love you." I mumble.

"I love you too honey." He whispers. He loosens his grip and I loosen mine, but he doesn't put me down, he just started walking towards the stairs.

"Ready?" He is about three steps away from the stairs.

"Um, okay?"

He lifts me up on his shoulder. "Let's sing."

"Peeta, what are you doing?" I ask. I know everyone in the living room is getting quieter to eavesdrop.

"Just sing!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Um, okay." He starts singing instead, I join in. He starts down the stairs quickly with me on his shoulders and halfway there, he trips.

Fuck.

I know he tried to grab me, but I fall right off of him and my boobs hit the stairs and I fall the rest of the way down. I just lay there because my boobs hurt so fucking bad and tears sting my eyes. Peeta must've caught himself.

Everyone is quiet for a couple moments, and then Peeta starts swearing profusely. The adults join in. I know the kids are sleeping though, because they're not crying, and the swear words that everyone is using. I don't even want to move.

"You knocked her out cold!" Rye says to Peeta. "You dumbass!"

I suppose I shouldn't be putting my weight on my boobs. I use my arms to force myself up into a sitting position.

"She's not unconscious." Peeta snaps back. I can tell he feels terrible.

"Did you break something?" Mom starts checking every bone in my body. "Your fine." She sits back.

"No she's not fine." Peeta says.

"Your pussy?" Jo guesses. I shake my head. "Ass?" I shake my head again. Her eyes widen. "Tits?" I nod.

"Oh fuck." She groans. "You hit the stairs on your tits each time?"

I groan again and nod.

…..a…

I'm so pissed off. Mom insisted I go to the hospital, and of course, everyone agreed with her because she's a nurse. Well, everyone except for me. I was stuck there for almost two days getting breast exams, which really sucked. There was nothing wrong, even my nurse told me that, but Mom and Peeta insisted, and since Mom is…well, my mother and Peeta is my husband, they listened to them, not me. Now the paparazzi know so I'm leaving my family on Haymitch's order to go to Ellen. He's rushing me so bad that I don't even get to go home and take a shower and not smell like a fucking white sterile, bleached hospital.

This is stupid. I'm going to be twenty eight in a couple of months. I should be allowed to make my own decisions.

….a….

"So you've been in the hospital?" Ellen cuts right to the chase.

"Yes." I sigh.

"Well, what happened?" she asks. I think about lying, but if I do, the truth will get exposed, so I'm just going to tell the truth.

"Okay, so…Peeta and I, when we are together and not in public, we kind of, well…we become toddlers."

"Unless the kids act up…" she trails off.

"Well we normally control ourselves around the kids. This time was different though. We were walking out of our room, and keep in mind that everyone, family and friends, were downstairs. He, being Peeta, picked me up and tld me to start singing. I kept asking him why, so he started scream singing, and I joined,"

"What song?" Ellen asks.

"Um…" I frown. "I don't know…I think it was Call Me When You're Sober by Evanescence. Anyways he was singing and so was I and he started going downstairs-"

"Were you still on his shoulders?" she asks, and her eyes are getting wider.

"Yeah, I was still on his shoulders." I nod. "Anyways, we were going downstairs and he tripped halfway down. He fell forwards, and he tried to catch me but he couldn't. When I hit the stairs…" I sigh. "Okay, the edge of the stair was here," I hold my right hand up. "And then my…chest was here." I put my left hand against the right."

"So your boobs caught your fall?" Ellen cringes and crosses her arms across her chest.

"Yes. I fell eight stars down, and then each time I passed a step, I hit another stair with my boobs. I was just lying face down on the floor. Everyone was freaking out because, again, they were all downstairs. It was all quiet for a second and then Peeta started just swearing nonstop, and I think it was at himself. He felt so bad! Obviously he didn't do I on purpose. I mean, he was going to start crying."

"I would've felt so bad I would've been crying." Ellen admits. "But I would have probably been laughing, too."

"Well he wasn't laughing because they thought I was unconscious, and I might have been holding my breath without meaning it."

"Oh." She nods. "Then I wouldn't have been laughing. So what happened after that? Did someone call an ambulance?"

"No, because Peeta and Rye started to bicker so I forced myself to sit up. My Mom was there, and she's a nurse, and she insisted I go to the hospital, when I think I was fine. But of course, she's a nurse so everyone listened to her. They practically forced to go to the hospital. I almost escaped but Peeta's too strong. He picked me up and I kept screaming at him and telling me to put me down, but he's stronger and he won. I spent almost two days in a hospital getting breast exams."

"And your boobs are…?" she trails off.

"Fine, they're fine." I laugh. She nods, pleased.


	11. Chapter 11

I get home at five thirty at night. It's pouring again, and I simply walk through the downpour because all I can smell is hospital. I didn't even have time to pack a bag before I got on that damn plane. I haven't slept in a while, and I'm pretty exhausted. I walk into the house and know something isn't right. It's too quiet.

"Is anyone here?" I call, but I don't get an answer.

Oh, that's right. Peeta told me before I got on the place that he and the kids were going into the city for dinner, and they weren't eating until eight, but they were going shopping first, and he told me I could meet them. They're in Louisville.

I can leave now and easily make it to them before they eat…

I'm not going anywhere until I take a shower. I'll just risk being late.

I take my shoes off and jog upstairs and hurriedly start she shower and strip naked. I toss my clothes in the hamper and hurriedly wash my hair and body, scrubbing until my skin is red from irritation.

That fucking hospital smell better be gone.

I get out and walk into my room wrapped in a towel and I get a black bra, black jeans, white panties and a teal and white plaid button up shirt with rolled up sleeves. I get dressed and put on my boots, put my hair up in a bun and grab my purse. I go back to the bathroom and get my phone from my other jeans because I tossed it in the hamper on accident and call Peeta.

He picks up on the second ring. "Hey honey." He says.

"Hey…" I bite my lip. "Is it too late to meet you guys? If it is I can like…make something…"

"Um…hang on." He says.

"Okay." I hear him speaking to someone, probably his brothers and parents.

"Kat?" he asks.

"Yeah?" I make our bed, because it drives me crazy if I don't, and then I start gig into every room and making the beds. "You can still come. _Please_ don't rush. It's raining really hard and I don't want you to get into an accident."

"I'll be safe baby, I promise."

"Okay. So…well, you're like two and a half hours away from eight. How about you call me when you get to Louisville and I'll tell you where we are?" he asks.

"Yeah, okay."

"Katniss," his vice gets all serious. "Please be safe." I know he's thinking of that time I drove off that cliff on accident and nearly killed myself.

"I will Peeta, I promise."

"I love you." He says.

"I love you too." I hang up and get my clear umbrella and head out in the rain.

…..a…

Traffic was backed up and it took me an hour to get here, but I'm here, and no surprise, it's at the Disney store.

I bet we'll be spending a couple hundred dollars in here today. I shut the car off and stuff my keys and everything in my purse, open the door and my umbrella and then get out, shut the door and lock my car, and then I walk into the store and shut my umbrella and shake the rain off outside of the door.

I turn around and I'm already getting shocked looks from adults.

I just want to be _normal_.

"EXCUSE ME PLEASE I NEED TO GET THROUGH PLEASE I NEED THIS TOY PLEASE!" Caden shouts, pushing children and people out of the way and taking a toy right out of a babies hand. The kid starts screaming.

I almost laugh. This shows how much Peeta needs my help.

"Caden Marcus." I speak up strickly. He whips around.

"Mommy." He says.

I walk over to him and take the toy from his hand. "Did you buy this?"

"No." he says.

"Did you take this off the shelf?"

"No."

"Did you take this from another kid?"

"Yes."

"Is that right?"

"No."

"Exactly, so if you know it's not right, why did you do it?"

"Because I wanted the toy…"

"Okay, well that toy is not yours. Now, go and give the toy back and apologize."

"But-"

"Right now."

He stomps his toddler feet over to the baby and hands the toy back. "I'm sorry." He says. The kid stops crying. Caden stomps his foot angrily. I can tell by the looks of that baby that it's only three months old and can't reply. "I said I'm sorry!"

"Caden." I say. "Come here." He stomps over to me. "That baby can't speak yet." Everyone has gone back to their own business, although a lot of more people are on their cell phones, talking about me, I bet.

"Okay." He says. I look at the mother of the baby.

"Sorry. He's only two and doesn't really understand what is his and what isn't."

"Oh, it's okay." She smiles. I return it, and then start walking around, holding onto Caden's hand.

Juliette slams right into me with three stuffed animals in her arms.

"Did your father say you could get those?" I ask.

"Hi Mommy!" she giggles. "No Daddy didn't."

"Put them back." I say.

She doesn't even argue. I take her hand, too, and keep walking around until I've collected my five little ones and I've ordered them to walk in front of me.

"Mommy?" Ryan asks, and he looks relieved. "Gosh. Dad's flipping out. This store is huge and he lost all the kids. Even little Emma managed to get away. Everyone is having a heart attack."

I don't know how, but I spot Emma about ten feet from me and I pick her up and cout heads again. I'm missing two. Addi and Rose.

"Addi and Rose?" I ask Ryan.

He shakes his head. "No clue."

"Alright, just give me a second to-"

"Oh thank god I found a parent!" Rose says, and she gives me a hug and whispers in my ear, "Addi locked herself in the bathroom because she stared her period and doesn't have anything." She pulls away to look me in the eyes, and I nod.

"Okay. I'll be there in a second. I need your father."

"Last I saw, he was near the stuffed animals."

"Alright, I want all of you to walk in front of me. If I lose sight of you, you're grounded."

All of them get in a straight line in front of me. I see Peeta arguing with his brothers and parents when I walk up.

"Oh, my baby!" Christina takes Emma from my arms. "Thank god!"

"Where's Addi?" Peeta asks, giving me a hug.

"She's in the bathroom. Stay here. I'll be right back."

"Wait." He grabs my hand. "How am I supposed to get them to stay?"

I look down at the kids. "Listen up." I say. "If I come back and I don't see all of you, I'm burning all of your toys, understood?" they all nod. I wink playfully at Peeta and walk off to the bathroom. The only female bathroom is a family bathroom. I knock on the door. "Addi honey? It's me. Let me in."

The door unlocks and opens. I walk inside and she shuts the door. "What do I do?" she locks the door again. I start digging through my purse and don't come out with a pad, so I use fifty cents to get one pad from the machine. "Here." I hand it to her.

…..a…

Everyone keeps flicking their eyes from me to Ryan. He won't even look me in the eyes. It's guilt or something, and something in my gut tells me it has to do with school.

I sit back in my chair and cross my arms and just stare at him. I see everyone exchange a look with each other. "So, are you going to tell me what happened at school or am I going to have to call your principle and find out myself."

Ryan looks up at me and he looks so scared. I raise my eyebrows at him. He winces, even though he's not in pain, and then he digs into his pocket. He hands me two papers. One is white, his report card, and one is yellow and pink. I don't look at the report card yet, I just go to the yellow and pink half paper, one I recognize without even looking as either a referral or a detention.

I shut my eyes for a minute and remind myself I'm in public and I can yell at him when I get home, and then I read over the paper.

_Student name: Ryan Mellark_

_Teacher: Mrs. Alvord_

_Date: 11/15_

_Reasoning: Ryan thought it was funny to ask if the fathers in a novel we were reading were gay. I calmly answered him, and then at the end of his lesson he rose his hand. I called on him and he said, "Are they gay?" _

_This is very disrespectful, especially because I already answered his question._

I try so hard not to laugh. "Well, were they gay?"

Every head at our table snaps up to me, and Ryan smirks and shakes his head. "No."

"You're not going to this shit." I toss the referral card on the table.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"I had her, Mrs. Alvord. She's my least favorite teacher. She picked on me all the time and gave me loads or referrals because I was just as much of a smart ass-" I look at the younger ones. "Don't say that word," I say, and they nod. "in high school as you are."

"Really?" he asks. I nod.

"Yeah."

"So he's just not going to show up and get kicked out of the school?" Peeta asks.

"No. I'm going to go to the school tomorrow morning and tell her how much of a dumbass she is." I look at the kids again. "Don't say that word." And they nod again. "To be honest, she probably only gave you the referral because I'm your mother, and she hates me."

"I have her, too." Rose says. "Every time I try to answer a question, she doesn't call on me, even if I am the only one raising my hand. She gave me an F on the test, that big one I told you about, and when we went over it on class I got all of them right, but she refused to correct it."

"I have her first period." Ryan says, "We both do, actually."

I nod calmly. "I'll take care of it." I pick up his report card and see he has straight A's in every class but he's because she's a dumb bitch.

"She did the same thing to my test." Ryan says.

…a…

I haven't been inside this school in a long time, but the receptionist is still the same. I waited until I knew my kids were I her class, and now I've decided to strike.

"Katniss." The receptionist smiles. "You are a very successful woman. I remember when it was you walking these halls."

I smile. "Yeah, so what do you say the chances of me speaking with Mrs. Alvord are?"

She frowns. "Um, I don't know." She frowns. "I suppose you could go see her." She writes me a badge and starts to write Everdeen, and then start apologizing. I reassure her she's fine, but she throws it away anyways, and writes me a new badge.

I smile. "Is she still in the same room?"

"Yes she is." She smiles. I return it and walk through the halls with both of my kids tests, and report cards, and Ryan's referral. I walk calmly into the classroom. Ryan and Rose are in the back of the class, way far away from everyone.

Mrs. Alvord looks up at me and does a double take. "What are you doing here?" she asks, gaining everyone's attention.

"We need to talk."

"Okay, so talk." She says.

I remind myself three times that I'm a responsible adult I need to be calm about this. "Okay, I'll start with my kids tests."

"You have kids?" she asks.

I stare at her. "Um…yeah." I try so hard not to be sarcastic.

"Well they're not in my classes."

"Really, because they're sitting right there." I gesture wildly to my kids. Every head in the rom turns to them. She crosses her arms. "Look, I know you hate me, but don't take it out on my kids."

"They got the grades that they earned."

"Incorrect." I say, and she scowls. _Bitch_. "You gave both of my children a 0% F." I say. "And I know for a fact that they got an A on this test." I wave the two tests she gave them an F on around. "And Rose said she checked it in class, got all the answers right and _told_ you. You told her it was too late to change it. If I'm correct, this is a new marking period, is it not? You can change the grades for six weeks." She doesn't say anything. "Am I correct?" I look around the room and back to her.

"Yes." She says. "Then I suggest you re grade these and fix my kids grades." She does.

"Is that all Miss Everdeen?" she asks.

"Actually, it's _Mrs. Mellark_. I'm sure you knew that, because both of my children have the last name Mellark. There may also be some other very obvious reasons." A few titters are heard from around the classroom.

"Is that all?" she repeats.

"No." I say, and she sighs.

"What else?"

"This." I show her the referral. "He's fifteen. Of course he wants to know if they're gay."

She sighs.

"He won't be getting this." I rip it up and toss it in the garbage can. "Don't penalize him. You can go and post online how much of a terrible person I am. Don't take it out on my son."

...8...

The house is too quiet when I get home again, except for this time, Peeta's on the couch flipping through the channels, naked.

I stare at him for a long time. "Um..."

He smirks. "Yes?"

I toss my bag on the coffee table. "Where are your clothes?"

"Upstairs."

"So..."

"So?" He says.

"Where's the kids?" I flick my eyes involuntarily down to his dick and begin to squirm.

"My parents decided that you and I needed to have a break because you are all stressed out. They're coming back after they pick up Elizabeth and Jillian at noon." He says.

"So you just decided to be naked?"

"Yes, and I decided that I can tell you what to do, so get naked with me."

"And if everyone shows up?"

"Let's go upstairs." He says. He stands up and leaves the TV on. I watch his ass as I pick up my purse and follow him.

"Has anyone ever told you that your ass is really sexy?"

"No." He says. "Your the only one that's seen my grow up ass." He says.

"Damn right." I say. I shut the door and lock it and then strip naked and lay down next to him and begin to trail patterns on his chest.

"So how'd it go?"

"I want them out of her class. She's a bitch."

"Well, we can get them out." He says.

We watch TV for a while but I start getting really distracted because his dick is right in my line of view and it's distracting. I sit up and throw my leg over his middle. "Make love to me."

"Okay." He agrees right away. He shuts the TV off. "Condom?" He asks.

"No. I hate them. It's not the same with them. I'll just take the pill. If I get pregnant then I get pregnant."

"Fair enough." He says.

...8...

I could keep making love to him for the rest of my life and never get uninterested. I got dressed and so did he. I fell asleep though, and I'm in bed and he isn't. I can hear all if my kids voices downstairs and Peeta say, "let your mother sleep. She's stressed out." I hear Ryan say an agreement.

The front door bangs against the wall. "BRAINLESS!" Johanna shouts. "Where is she?" She demands.

"She's sleeping Johanna, don't-"

I hear footsteps on the stairs and then Jo walks into the room and slams the door and then sits down next to me and rips the covers away from my body.

"Just making sure." She narrows her eyes. "Why don't you hang with Ann and Finnick and Blight and I anymore?"

"What do you mean?"

"You spend all your time with everyone else. Not us. Let Peeta handle the kids for a night and let's to out. You need to relax."

"I'm not going to a club." I sigh.

"We can go to dinner and a movie. We can help you write a new song. You don't even have to drink. Brainless, we are your family too."

"I know. I'm sorry." I sigh.

"So get up and get dressed."

"I can't just leave without asking."

"Why? Peeta's in charge of you?"

"No, but he'll be left in charge of eight kids. He's not very good at taking control."

"Oh." She frowns. "Well you can talk to him after you get dressed."

"Can I take a shower?" I ask, and she just shrugs. I get up and walk into the bathroom and take a shower and then I get out and pull on a t-shirt and jeans. "Good?" I ask Jo.

"Yeah." She says. "Just leave your hair down." I leave it down and blow dry it dry and then I put on boots and get my leather jacket and change my shirt to a tan kind of light brown and then I grab my phone and anything else I could need as go downstairs.

"Come here hon, I need to talk to you." I wave Peeta over to me.

"Yeah?" He asks.

"If you get someone to watch the kids you can come out with Brainless, Finnick, Annie and Blight." Jo says.

Peeta looks over his shoulder at the kids. The three little ones, and Rlizabeth and Jullian are running across the glass coffee table. When it breaks beneath them with one of them on it, the person on it wins.

"HEY!" I shout and all of them, everyone look at me. "Get off the table!" Jillian hops off. "If you guys want to play, you play with your toys. If I ever, and I mean ever, catch any one of you on top of that table again, you won't be allowed on any furniture for a week. That means no bed. You'll be sleeping on the floor."

"You can't do that!" Elizabeth screams, and then she gets on the table and she stomps her foot.

Oh my god.

The glass gives in and shatters and she falls down, first her feet landing in the shards, and then her ass, and then her hands.

She stares at me in silence and then looks at her bloody hands, realizes the pain and starts screaming and thrashing around, trying to get out of the glass.

I walk over to her and pick her up out of the glass.

Mom needs to fix this. I don't know what to do about this. I rush out of the house and she just screams. I get on the car and lay her on her belly. Peeta gets in and so does Jo and everyone else gets in Peeta's parents car. I rush down the street to Mom and Dad's and pick her up again and rush her into the house. Her scream alarms Mom right away.

"Oh my god, what happened?"

"She didn't listen and she went into the table and it shattered."

"Oh my goodness." She has me lay her down on the coffee table and we pull her pants down and make all the boys leave the room. Peeta refuses and nobody tries to make him. She keeps screaming and it gets deathly as Mom pours peroxide.

"She won't stop moving. I can't do anything till she calms down."

I start singing and I sit next to the table and rub her back.

It gets her to stop moving. Mom starts picking out glass and she just keeps crying. I keep singing. I sing any song I can think of and I just keep rubbing her back. Mom keeps working quickly, double and triple checking each wound. I sing the first song that pops to mind. After a good ten minutes, she stops crying and just lays there and studies my face. Mom starts on her feet and then she starts crying again. Peeta joins me on the floor and rubs her back and sings with me. Elizabeth always says that she loves when Peeta and I sing together. Her crying reduces to a whimper and then silence. She focuses solely on our voice. Mom finishes in about an hour and bandages her up and pulls her pants up again. Peeta picks her up this time. I realize I'm the only one that had shoes on. I hug my mother.

"Has the doctor called you?" She nods. "And?"

She hesitates and then looks upset, which makes me upset. Then she smiles. "He found a donor."

We all start cheering. "That's great. When is your appointment?"

"Tomorrow. I need to be there at five in the morning because he's starting treatment right away."

"Is this surgery?"

"Yes."

"And Dad is going?"

"Um, all of us are. Our side, at least."

"Us too." Mrs. Mellark says.

…a…

The morning comes quickly. We are saying goodbye to Mom. I'm scared she's going to die on the operating table. I don't say it, of course.

As I understand, what they are doing is removing her spleen, and then they are using the blood marrow from the donor to replace hers.

"Listen," Mom says to all of us, my entire family having flown and driven in. Even the Mellark are on the way. "Even if I don't make it, I want all of you to know I love you. If I go, it's because God chose me." She looks at me. "If I do go Katniss, I don't want you to blame yourself.

"I-" I start to tell her I don't, but she cuts me off.

"Yes you do." She pauses. "Everyone here is my witness." I don't reply, and she kisses my forehead and hugs me. "I love you."

"I love you too." She says goodbye to everyone else and follows the doctor.

"I don't blame myself for anything."

Finn laughs sarcastically and stomps over to the wall sized window, and after a moment of silence, I follow him.

Neither one of us speaks for a long time, we just watch the clouds pass and the cars fly by.

"I'm waiting." He says after a good half hour of a comfortable silence. I look at him.

"Waiting for what?"

"You to ditch me and the rest of your blood for the _Mellark's_."

I turn to face him fully. "What?" He sighs, irritated and turns to me.

"You heard me perfectly fine."

"You know what my last name is, right?" I ask.

He's making no effort to lower his voice. Actually, he's letting it rise. "Of course I know what it is, but you don't pay any attention to the rest of us. You just…" he lowers his voice. "Look, I like Peeta, you know that, but it seems to me lie you can't even pay us a visit because all you want to do is be with him and the kids."

I don't even reply for a long time because I really want to smack some sense into him, but finally I say, "Well, I'm not the same girl I was when we met. I'm married and I have eight kids. I'm sorry if I'm not with you every day like I usually am. If I remember correctly, you haven't even called or texted me unless I do it first. You haven't even made an effort, so don't pin all of this on me like it's my fault."

"But you don't do it first! You never do!" he snaps.

I grit my teeth for a good thirty seconds. "What do you want from me, Finnick? I've got shit to do. I've got work and people to please and eight, no, nine mouths to feed, not counting myself. What the fuck do you want?"

He grits his teeth and I see his eyes getting darker in anger.

I know Finnick Bryan Odair has an anger issue. If I push him far enough over the edge, he'll ove closer to me and he'll want to kill me, but I'm the exact same way.

He takes a step closer to me and I take a step closer to him.

"Alright." Johanna speaks up as we both stare at each other with clenched fists. "Knock it off, you too." We ignore her.

"I'm trying, alright? There's not much I can do right now. I'm stressed out and I don't even want to be working but I don't have a choice. I'm sorry I can't give you the attention you need. I'm sorry we can't be as close as we used to. I'm sorry I have a family. I'm sorry I'm not there all the time. Okay? I'm sorry I'm such a fuck up, I'm sorry I'm not the same Katniss and I'm sorry." My voice is low, but everyone heard it.

"Kitty…" Finn sighs, but I'm already gone.


	12. Chapter 12

"I knew I would find you here." Peeta says. I don't reply, I just keep stirring my coffee with my straw, watching the water funnel come back and disappear again. I went to the Starbucks in the hospital. This is strictly a cancer hospital, called Mofitt. He sits down across from me. "Listen," he begins, but I cut him off before he can start again.

"Yeah, I'm really not in the mood for a lecture."

"Well that's too bad," he snaps, and my eyes snap up to his in shock because he never says that to me. He normally just…says okay.

"Peeta-"

"No. Katniss Joy, you've been best friend with Finnick since you were fifteen, and Johanna is your own blood. I get you have priorities honey, but I'm not going to let me and the ids make you a recluse who only leave the house for work. We're young still, kids or not, and I get that you have kids and we're married, but I want you to make time for everyone. How about say…Fridays? Some day that works for all of you, you go out and I take care of the kids?"

"What about you and your friends?"

He shrugs. "Don't worry about me."

"Peeta that's not fair!"

"Katniss," he says. "I'm fine."

"Peeta…"

"Katniss…" he mimics. I scowl and he grins. "Most of my friends live in France."

"Well you go to France once a week."

It's his turn to scowl. "No. But anyways, I want you to spend time with them. I want you to make time for everyone."

"I'm only human Peeta. I can't do everything. I may seem strong, but I'm human. I bleed when I fall down."

"I know that baby." He reaches for my hands. I place them in his and he kisses my palm. "The rest of my family is here. You haven't seen some of them since Elizabeth was born. Justice and Kegan are currently teaching our kids many different swears." I put the cap of my coffee quickly and get up. He laughs and follows me, slings his arm around my shoulder."

It's true though, that most of the people in Peeta's family has only met Elizabeth, not the other seven of our children.

As matter of fact, the only people that have met our kids are Peeta's parents and brothers.

"They better not give me shit." I stop as we walking into the waiting room and turn to Peeta and cross my arms. He laughs.

"Honey, its Justice and Kegan, they're going to give you shit. Your talent is singing and sex. Their talent is giving you shit."

"Sex?" I ask as he starts pulling me towards everyone.

"And the bitch is here!" Kegan starts banging his fists against his chest and Justice joins, and of course, Rye and Graham. I ignore them.

"Well of course." Peeta says. "You should know that."

"Boys." Portia says desperately. Ryan is laughing his ass off, and so are the rest of my kids.

"Four ears and you guys are still annoying as hell." I say.

"What? That's all I get? At least give me a fucking hug." Kegan says.

"Watch your mouth and I'll consider it." I say, and then I point to my kids.

"Oh come on, what about Ryan and Rose? Let them swear." Justice says.

"No."

"Why?" he demands. "You know they do anyways. You cursed at fifteen."

"I know they cure, but I better not hear it."

"When can I curse?" Ryan asks.

"When there isn't sensitive ears around." I reply.

"Hey Katniss," Kegan says. I look at him and Justice snatches my coffee and drinks the whole thing.

"I spit in that." I say.

He pauses with his mouth full. I don't even laugh, or smile. My lips don't eve twitch in the lie, my face just stays bored and straight.

"Bull." He says.

"She did." Peeta backs me up. "She started choking on a muffin and everything, chunks and all, went right back into that cup."

Justice spits the drink in his mouth into the garbage and then he drops my coffee in, too.

I high five Peeta.

"Wait…" he frowns. "You tricked me."

"Yeah, I did."

Jillian comes stomping over to me, her pigtails bouncing. "Mommy, we are _hungry_! Can we eat? I'm going to die."

"You just ate an hour and a half ago. You're not hungry, you're just bored."

"No." she says. "I'm hungry!"

"No you aren't."

So what does she do when she doesn't get what she wants? She sits down on the floor and starts throwing a tantrum. I pull her off the floor and squat down in front of her.

"Stop it. You are going to be a big kid. Start acting like it. You are bored. You are not hungry okay?" I reach into my purse and hand her a ton of coloring books and four boxes of crayons. "Now go color and stop crying."

…..a…...

Finn and I made up and now we're all sitting around the waiting room. My eyes keep flicking to my notebook, and then the piano, and then I sigh. I don't know how many times I've done this. I just wrote a song because I got bored and it was on my mind and I need a piano and I don't want to wait till I get home.

"Why do you keep sighing?" Haymitch blurts. "It's getting really annoying. You're a musician and there isn't a damn person in this country that doesn't know it. The piano isn't there for decoration. Go and fucking use it so we can tune out the annoying beeping."

I simply shake my head, flip my notebook to a clean sheet and write, '_draw something for me?'_ and drop it on Peeta's lap. He frowns and picks up the pencil.

_Like what?_

I reach over and take the pencil from him, resting my chin on his arm and write _surprise me_

He writes, _okay. I love you._

I take the pencil again. _I love you too._

He taps on the paper with the eraser of the pencil and then he carefully squares our small conversation and begins drawing. I rest my head on his arm and watch. He starts drawing a line, and then the line turns into the most detailed tree with every leaf in it, but through it, I can still see through the leaves and see the branches.

He draws many more trees and then starts sketching the sky and the clouds. He doesn't let the tiny conversation on the paper that's boxed in interfere with his work.

He starts another tree but then we all look up from our distractions to the sound of someone, female, presumably Rose and, sobbing her eyes out.

"Mommy? Mom? Mom wake up!" The girl cries. "Please? I need you! Dad's gone! Not you too! Please, I need you to wake up for me. I want to have my Mom back! Please Mommy." I hear a hollowing sob and then, "you promised me."

The pain in this girls voice is so great, and the thought that she doesn't have a shoulder to cry on...it breaks my heart. I swallow the lump forming in my throat and get up.

"Katniss." Dad warns.

But I ignore him and walk away. I walk toward the sound of the girls voice and find her. She's younger than Rose and Ryan. She might even be a little bit younger than Addi. She's probably ten. She looks at me, and there's so much pain in her green eyes. Her ashy blond hair falls in her face and she brushes it away. Nurses are making her leave. I see her emerald eyes dart to a magazine that my face is on and back to me. She doesn't say anything, she just keeps crying. I open my arms and after she hesitates for a long time, she walks into them. I let her sob her eyes out into my shoulders, slowly pulling her out of the room. I run my fingers through her hair. I hold her for the longest time, until she stops crying. It think it's been a good two hours before she can talk.

"She was only thirty two. My dad died. My sister, she's twenty one, but other than that, I have no family to go to."

"Well maybe your sister will take you in?"

"No. She won't do that." She whispers. "She had leukemia. She was getting the spleen surgery and after they finished I was sitting in there and she left me."

"Oh honey." I whisper.

"Your Mom has the same thing." She whispers.

"My mom is getting the same surgery your Mom got."

"Well..." She doesn't finish her sentence. "Thank you." She whispers. "For calming me down."

"You don't need to thank me honey." I whisper.

She smiles and walks away.

Still, I can see the pain behind her smile.


	13. Chapter 13

We are in Mom's room because they're done and I'm scared.

If that girls Mom died of Leukemia after getting the same surgery that my Mom did, my Mom could die, too, right?

The doctor comes in to check on her again.

"What kind of cancer did the girls mother have?" Mom whispers.

Lie, I need to lie. "She didn't say."

In fact, everyone knows she did say, but Mom doesn't catch on to the lie.

I stand up and look at he doctor. "Can I talk to you please? Like...outside."

"Okay." He says. He steps out the door and holds it open for me. I mumble a thank you and walk out. He leads me down the hall, away from the door by the huge windows that I'm sure the paparazzi are going to be snooping in the second that they find me. "What's wrong?"

"I was sitting in this waiting room and this girls Mom died. I comforted her and all and I asked how her Mom died and she said she died right after getting the same surgery my Mother just got. Is my Mom going to die? What's going on?"

"Did the girl have green eyes?"

"Yes."

He sighs. "She did die after the surgery, but she also had Heart Cancer. That's what took her."

"So my Mom...?"

"Your mother has an eighty percent chance of survival. After she heals the surgery, we'll start remission. The cancer could come back, though."

"What happens if it does?" I ask.

"Radiation and more bone marrow."

I let out a long breath. "So she isn't going to die?"

"Probably not right now but don't worry. I'm doing whatever I can to keep your mother alive."

"I hate cancer." I mutter.

"Me too, that's why I'm fighting it."

I nod and walk back to the room.

"Everything okay?" Mom asks, suspicious.

"Everything is perfect." I smile.

…..a…...

"So what do you want to do?" Finn asks.

I feel...left out? Mom is home and I'm going out with Jo, Blight, Finn and Annie.

Peeta is staying home, not with only my kids, but with Mason and Ben too.

I made sure I expressed my anger about the whole situation by ranting to my husband. I didn't stop until everyone got here to pick me up. All the kids heard my rant, and Peeta's family and they kept agreeing it's fucked up. I think Peeta's upset he wasn't asked to come but he keeps insisting he's fine and that angers me even more.

It's like a double date and then I'm the third wheel.

I grit my teeth. "No clue."

"Kitty." Finn says. "You look pissed. What's wrong?"

We haven't even left yet, we're still on my porch.

"I'm fine." I say.

"Why didn't you ask Peeta to come? Are you guys fighting?" Johanna asks.

"No we aren't fighting. You didn't even tell me to ask him."

She scoffs and brushes past me into the house. "Loverboy!" She shouts, slamming the door behind her.

"We should go out to a fancy dinner." Blight says. Jo comes back outside with Peeta.

"He's coming." She says.

"Did you even ask if he wanted to?" Annie asks. Everyone has their hands joined except for Peeta and I, and it feels empty without his hand in mine, especially since he is standing right next to me.

He must feel it too, because he takes my hand and kisses it, and then threads his fingers through mine.

She looks at Peeta. "Do you want to come?"

He shrugs. "I don't want to be a burden to you guys."

"You are not a burden." Finn says. Everyone agrees except for me.

They all stare at me, except me to say something.

"What?" I ask.

"Is he a burden?" Jo asks.

"That's a stupid question. He knows I'm not a burden. If he was a burden we wouldn't have sex whenever we get the chance." I mutter, and we all start laughing.

"So where are we going?" Annie asks. "Finnick thinks we should go out to a fancy dinner."

"Fuck that." Johanna says. "Let's go to the mall in Louisville, eat at the food courts and then raid the stores."

"I'm down for that."

"Who's watching the kids?" I ask.

"My parents." Peeta says, kissing my cheek.

…..a…..

Against my protests, everyone decided we are going into a music store called F.Y.E. If it stands for something, I don't know what it is, and the rest of us don't either.

"Hey Kitty," Finn says. "Doesn't this girl look exactly like you?" he holds up my album. Johanna rips it from his hand.

"Fuck. Brainless, this girl and you could be twins."

Peeta takes the album and studies the two faces. "We should call your parents to see if you have a twin."

"Excuse me," Blight stops some girl and boy, Ryan and Rose's age for sure, holding hands. "Could you tell me if this girl," he hands the people my album. "And _that_ girl," he jabs his thumb in my direction, "Look alike?"

The girl looks from the album to me, and back to the album.

"Isn't that actually her?" the girl asks.

"No." Peeta says.

"Yes it is, because my Mom listens to her album all the time. You're her husband. She always says how attractive you are, and even though you could be my father, I have to agree with her." She pauses and takes the last album, the one in Blight's hand. "If I buy this can you sign it for my Mom?"

"Um, I guess?" I don't know if I'm even allowed to do that. The only person I can get in trouble with is Haymitch, and he doesn't scare me.

The girl walks away, and a couple minutes later she comes back with a black sharpie. I sign it and take a picture with the kid and her boyfriend even though they're way too young to be dating and then she leaves the store saying how her mother is going to be so happy when she gets home.

"Fucking kid is fifteen years old with a boyfriend, in a crop top with her boobs hanging out and shorts that hardly even cover her ass. If I ever see any of my kids dress like that," I inhale sharply and don't finish my sentence.

"That was gross." Peeta says.

"What was?"

"The fact that a girl my daughter's age just called me attractive. It makes me uncomfortable and sick to my stomach."

"Well she's not wrong."

"Yeah but your my wife. You can say that." He says.

"Whatever, the bitch took the last copy and now I can't buy it." Jo says.

"Oh, we have more." A worker says, and he restocks the shelf.

Johanna buys one.

"I am going to torture you so badly on the way home." She snickers. "Now sign this shit." she thrusts it into my hands and gets a sharpie from Annie's purse.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because."

…..a…..

This is fucking torture, like, can I die please?

My music is being played, and I really don't want to hear it.

It's my voice and my music and this sucks. We're all crammed in my car, but Peeta's driving. The windows are down all the way and I'm right in between Annie and Finn with Blight in the back row behind us. My knees are pulled up against my chest and my eyes are squeezed tightly shut with my hands clamped over my ears and they're all screaming along with my voice, when the living and breathing me isn't making a noise, and every time one of them looks at me they laugh.

It's one in the morning.

We pull up at Peeta and I's house and I'm out of the car before the vehicle has fuly stopped moving, having crawled over Peeta's lap. It's snowing so the moon is blocked by the clouds. I walk through the light flurries. It hasn't snowed since winter and this is the first time so I know the kids will be excited.

I walk into the house. All the lights are off. I sneak past the living room and the kitchen, checking to make sure everything was taken care of. Of course it was, because Mrs. Mellark is here. I go upstairs and, before even entering my room, I go and check on the kids.

When I open up Jillian, Elizabeth and for now, Juliette's door, all three girls sit up, looking scared at first, but then lay back down when they see it's me.

"It's late girls." I whisper.

"I was scared." Jillian whispers. "All three of us."

I go into the room all the way. "Why?"

"Because I was just scared without you or Daddy here."

"Well, both of us are home." I whisper. "Now, I need all three of you to be god little kids and go to sleep." I kiss all of their foreheads and hug them and tuck them in and then I continue my rounds.

After I check on my kids, I go and take a shower, and then I dress in Peeta's shirt and climb into bed. I'm sleeping before he's even in the room.


	14. Chapter 14

It's so dark when I wake up.

Is it still nighttime?

I look at the clock to see it's turned off, so I look at my phone and see it's 6:30. The sun normally is coming up by now. I frown and get up, walk to the balcony doors and rip them open.

A shitload of snow comes pouring into the house. I shut the doors again and move the curtain, shivering.

Is this a blizzard?

Is there school today?

Where's Peeta?

Why am I awake so early?

I pull on sweats, a yellow tank top and a white jacket that is way to big for me because it belongs to Peeta. It's. Much warmer than any jacket I've ever worn.

I put socks on, too, and go downstairs.

Everyone is awake.

I run my fingers through my hair. All of the kids are ready for school but Peeta is arguing with his Mom about whether or not they're going. He's insisting that they have to go and she is saying that they're not. The entire conversation is in quick French.

I decide to just settle it. "Peeta, ils ne peuvent pas aller à l'école dans une tempête de neige. vous ne pouvez même pas voir la voiture de la fenêtre." (Peeta, they can't go to school in this blizzard. You can't even see the car from the window.)

"Merci! au moins quelqu'un comprend!" Mrs. Mellark says. (Thank you! At least someone understands!)

Peeta sighs loudly. "Amende." (Fine.)

The kids stand there, confused, because we're still working on French with them.

Peeta grew up in Paris, France, and every time he talks in English, he has the French accent. I grew up here in Kentucky but I'm mostly French in the blood and for years in my life all my parents spoke was French. I just picked it up, I guess.

I look at the kids. "You're not going to school."

"But Dad said-" Ryan begins.

"I know what he said."

He hesitates and looks at Peeta. "You're not going."

"Okay. I'm going back to bed."

All of the kids go back to bed. I can tell by looking at Peeta that he isn't mad at me, which is good.

"I'm going too." He says.

"Me too," I follow him.

He lies down and I slowly sit next to him. "You aren't mad at me, right?" I ask.

He shakes his head and pats his chest. I lie down and rest my head where he patted, and he pulls me close. "Peeta." I mumble.

"Yes?" he whispers, kissing the top of my head.

"Can you take your shirt off?"

He doesn't question, he just sits up, pulls his shirt off, tosses it on the floor and then lies back down.

I rest my head on his chest again after pulling off all my clothes except for my underwear.

"Honey, if one of our kids walks in here and sees you more than half naked and me more than half naked lying in bed together, they're going to have nightmares."

I sigh and get up and lock the door, and then I climb back in bed with him. His hands roam my bare back. "I love you." He whispers.

"I love you too." I kiss the spot right over his heart and start trailing my hands around his stomach. I find my hands moving lower and lower until they start to run over top of his boxer briefs. He inhales sharply and grabs my wrist.

"What are you doing?" he whispers, and I smile.

"Sorry." I whisper back.

A half hour passes of my hand roaming his front.

"Peeta?" I whisper.

"Hmm?" he murmurs.

"Are you very tired?"

"No, why?"

"Me either."

He sighs softly. "I hate mixed messages."

"Are you bored?"

"No, I'm enjoying laying here with you."

"Well…what if your laying and I'm not, or I'm laying and your not but we are still touching in a better way and we are still in bed?"

He's silent for a while. "Is this your way of asking for sex?"

I shrug.

"Honey…the kids…"

"I can be quiet." I sit up. "Can you?"

He looks at my breasts, licks his lips and then nods.

"I won't make a noise."

"So…?" I bite my lip.

"So I can make love to my wife. Now lay down."

"Are you in charge?" I ask, grinning, because he knows I like it better that way.

"Yes."

"Okay."

…..a…..

"Katniss." Prim shakes my shoulder. I sit up without thinking, because I'm naked. She just bursts out laughing and walks away to lock the door. I make no attempt to cover myself. "I'm getting married."

"Yeah, I know you are…" I mumble.

"No, I mean I'm really getting married. It's going to be in December. I'm thinking the twelfth."

"Oh." I mumble, running a finger through my hair.

"Yeah, will you be my maid of honor? I was going to ask Lauren, but your my sister and I kind of want it to be you because your taste is better than all of us and your my sister."

"Um, okay."

"Cool. So, I've decided I can have as many fucking people as I want in my wedding. I'm going to have five bridesmaids and three flower girls and then four ring bearers."

"That's a lot of people, Prim."

"Well it's what I want." She pauses. "Collin made me a list of his groomsmen. He wants Peeta, Finnick, Blight and Ryan, and this his one brother Michael, and then Greg and then his groomsmen is his other brother, Justin." She says.

"Okay, who are the Bridesmaids?"

"Well, there Addi, Rose, Lauren, Annie and Johanna."

"The ring bearers?" I ask.

"Caden, Cody, Ben and Mason. Then the flower girls are Jillian, Elizabeth and Juliette." She says.

"Okay." I say.

"I have basically everything planned, but we are going to go to the same dress shop you went to and that's in New York. We need to go soon. How about this weekend?"

"Um, I'll have to check with Peeta."

"Rose and Addi and Juliette and Jillian need to come, too."

"Okay."


	15. Chapter 15

"Well I'll be damned!" Jake shouts. "If it isn't Katniss fucking Everdeen."

"It's Mellark. Get your facts straight, Jake." I smile and move my five girls in front of me.

"Whatever. I haven't seen you in like five or six years." He says. He starts making my coffee without even asking what I want, because he already knows.

Ryan's pissed off that he didn't get to come to New York too, so I told him that we could come here during New Year's if he wanted and he said yes.

"Yes, it's been a while."

"And you've had like four kids and adopted four and you still look like the exact same Katniss."

"Yeah, I guess." I look at the girls, all of them. "Order your drinks."

"I'm paying." Prim says.

"No you aren't." I say.

"But-"

"You're the bride. As maid of honor, it's only right that I pay." She scowls and I scowl back.

"Are these your girls?" Kate asks, giving me a hug.

"Yes." I smile. "This is Rose, Addison, Jillian, Elizabeth and Juliette."

"And they're the biological ones?" She points to Elizabeth and Juliette.

"Yes."

"Where's the boys?" Jake asks.

"They're not here."

"Well that's fucked up."

I shrug. "They'll be here for New Year's."

"Good." He looks at Annie. "And your Finnick's wife?"

"Yes." She says.

"Are you guys coming for New Years?"

"Um, probably." She says.

He nods and looks at everyone.

"What do you guys want?" he asks. All of the adults order their drinks. He looks at the kids.

"I want a cookie." Juliette says. He frowns and looks at me.

"What kind?"

"Just get her chocolate chip and chocolate milk please."

"I want some too." Elizabeth says.

"Me too." Jillian adds.  
"Three chocolate chip cookies and three chocolate milks." I look at Addi and Rose.

"I don't know what's good." Addi says, and Rose agrees.

"Mom I want to try yours." Rose says. I hand it to her and she takes a sip. "Can I have that please?"

Addi tries it and agrees.

"Sizes?" he asks. The girls look at me.

"Just get them the same as mine." I say. "Please." I add.

He makes all the drinks and passes them out to everyone and I pay before Prim can.

"What do you say?" I ask my kids.

"Thank you," they say in sync.

"Mommy that girl is staring at you. I've seen her before I think." Addi says.

"Don't point." I scold, and she drops her hand. I look where she pointed and pause.

Fucking Delly.

Why does she have to show up everywhere?

I sigh.

"Isn't that Dad's Ex fiancé or whatever?" Rose asks.

"Yes."

"I don't like her _at all_."

"Me either." Addi says.

"Want me to tell her to go away?" Johanna asks.

"No." I shake my head. "If she comes over here and tries to start shit we'll just leave."

"How about we go to Central Park?" Prim asks.

"Can we go to there and then to where the Twin Towers were? My Dad died there…" Addi says. "My biological Dad."

"Oh. Sorry." I say. She shrugs.

"I have a better Dad. I didn't know much about him. Can we go though?"

"Yeah." I say.

"I want to go to Time's Square." Rose says.

"Why don't we go to Times Square tomorrow after looking for dresses?" Prim asks. "If we don't we'll run out of things to do and then we'll get bored for the weekend."

"I agree with Prim." Lauren says, and we all nod.

Delly taps m shoulder insistently until I turn around. I force myself to look her in the eye.

"I just wanted to let you know that Peeta loves me and not you and I'm going to stop at nothing to make him realize it." She says.

"Okay." I shrug, because Peeta doesn't love her. As a matter of fact, my husband doesn't even like her.

"And I know you think you're all that because you can sing and shit but you're not."

"Alright."

"He loves me with everything he's got."

I almost reply sarcastically and tell her everything Peeta and I have and remind her she's never even made out with him, but I decide against it because I'm in public and I need to be a role mode, not only for society, but for my kids. "Okay." I say again.

She slaps me because I pissed her off even though I didn't do anything. The paparazzi that were watching from across the street immediately start to swarm out of the window. My jaw clenches and unclenches. Juliette, Elizabeth and Jillian are in tears.

Rose, Lauren, Jo, Ann, Addi and Prim are pissed. Johanna looks like she's going to kick her ass.

But it isn't Johanna who steps in, it's Rose. "That's my fucking Mom, bitch!" my jaw drops at her language, and then she punches Delly and then my fifteen year old daughter is in a full blown fist fight with my husband's Ex-fiancé.

I completely lose it and roughly pull Rose away from Delly. "Let's go." I clench my jaw. "Now."


	16. Chapter 16

The media is so bad that we had to come right home. We couldn't even leave the hotel without being swarmed in paparazzi, demanding to know what the hell happened. Peeta doesn't look to happy when he's waiting for us.

It's because the news of what happened came out when we were on the plane and he's mad at me that I didn't tell him.

The ride home is silent because Peeta doesn't speak. His jaw clenches and unclenches. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel and his eyes are pitch black.

"When we get to the house," he says. "I want everyone to get out." He takes a deep breath and makes eye contact with me for the first time since yesterday morning when we left to go to New York. "Except for you."

"She didn't even do anything!" Rose shouts.

"Rosalee, this is between your mother and I." he says. His voice is deep and menacing and loud, and it makes all of us shrink back in our seats. When I told Ellen that he was scary when he's mad, I wasn't kidding.

She shrinks down in her set because she's never seen him angry, not like this.

"Okay." Her voice is small. I fold my arms across my chest and stare out the window.

He pulls into the driveway and everyone get out, getting their luggage. When they're in the house, he backs out.

He drives right to the cliff that's at the edge of town. "Get out."

Honestly, I'm scared he's so mad that he's going to throw me off. I hope I'm just paranoid and stupid.

"Peeta-"

"Now."

I wipe away the tear that falls and get out. He gets out too, after shutting the car off.

"If you plan on throwing me off the fucking cliff or something, just do it."

"Throw you off?" he asks. "You think I'm going to kill you? Katniss, what the fuck." I just look down at the snow. "Katniss…" and then I swear and gets angrier. "What the fuck!"

"I'm sorry." I whisper.

"I'm already pissed off about everything that happened with Delly but now you think I'm going to kill you? Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

"Well what the fuck do you want me to think?" I shout at him. "You order me to get out of the car at a cliff and you're pissed at me for something that wasn't my fault!"

"I brought you here because everyone knows where we live and everyone is at our house! Nobody would look here!" he shouts right back.

"Well I'm here!" I shout. "Say what you want!"

"I want to know why you pissed her off, I want to know why she hit you and I want to know what the fuck happened!" he pauses. "And I want to know why you didn't tell me!"

Loudly, I explain everything to him. "And how did you want me to tell you? What the hell am I supposed to say?"

"You could have just told me what you just said!"

My anger is above normal. Finally, I say, "Fuck you." And then I walk away.

**Honestly, I don't think Peeta's overreacting that much. Imagine how he feels. His ex-fiancé just slapped his wife and fought his daughter. **

**If I were him, I'd be pissed too, an I'd be even angrier that Katniss didn't tell me.**


	17. Chapter 17

I sat in the forest for a couple hours behind my parents' house, and then it started getting dark so I went to Finnick and Annie's. I hung there for a while and ranted, and Finn calmly explained that Peeta I probably stressed and he said that when he came home he looked pretty upset. I went to Jo and Blight then, and they told me the same thing that Finnick and Annie did.

Finally, at eleven, I go home. Of course everyone is still here, and I know they're waiting for me.

Maybe Peeta was right, I should have told him. I feel terrible for saying fuck you, because I love him so much and it hurts my heart that I said that to him. The kids are all sleeping and everyone is whispering when I walk into the living room.

"Katniss," Mom says, being the first one to see me. I nod at her in acknowledgement and look at Peeta.

"We need to talk."

He nods and stands up.

"Upstairs." I walk away, and he follows me. I turn on the light and when he comes in; I lock the door and turn to him. "I'm sorry." I whisper, and another round of tears start to shed I'm shed so much of them today alone, and it's drained my energy and I have a headache and I'm exhausted and I'm hungry because I haven't eaten since breakfast. "You were right. You were right, I should have told you, and I'm sorry I didn't and I'm sorry for saying fuck and thinking you were going to kill me because really that was just fucking stupid and I'm really sorry."

"I'm sorry too, for being angry about something stupid. I guess I would have wanted to find out when you got home and you didn't really do anything and I'm just really sorry for everything. Can you forgive me?"

"Yes." I mumble. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He says. He wipes away my tears and kisses me. I deepen it and pull him against me.

I hate fighting with Peeta but I fucking love makeup sex. I pull away. "I need to bathe."

"Okay." He whispers.

"Come with me." I whisper, and he beams.

"Is that what you want?"

"That's what I want."

"Okay." He says, and he puts his hands on my shoulders and steers me into the bathroom. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Did I ever tell you that you have an adorable ass and you're beautiful and that I love you?"

"You might have mentioned it a time or two."

"Well, you do. I love your boobs, too." He cups me ass with his right hand and cups my left breast with his left hand.

"I think you enjoy teasing me."

"Oh, I love it." He shuts the bathroom door and locks it. "And you."

"I love you too."

…..a…..

The first thing that registers in my mind when I wake up is the raging headache and the hunger I feel. I pull Peeta's hoodie on and put on sweatpants over my underwear, pull the hood up and go downstairs.

"What's wrong?" Peeta asks.

"Migraine," I mumble.

"You didn't eat dinner last night. What do you want to eat?"

I shrug, because I don't know, and then I say, "I'm not hungry." But then my stomach growls and he sighs.

"I'm just going to make something random." He gently pushes me down on the couch. I pull the strings on the hoodie and pull my knees to my chest.

Every noise makes it worse, so nobody speaks. Peeta gives me coffee and medicine. I mumble a thank you, take the meds, put the cup on the new coffee table and then hide my face again.

"Hey sweetheart, what do you think about going on Ellen."

"No."

"Why not?" he asks.

"Because I'm done with the media. Just let them go away until after the holidays and then I'll consider it. Until then, I don't want me and the world brought up."

"You can't just stop."

"I can and I will."

"But-"

"She doesn't want to Haymitch." Peeta calls from the kitchen.

"Fine." Haymitch grumbles.

…..8…..

The migraine went away. We all decide to eat dinner at the table.

"Mom what does sex feel like?" Rose asks.

I almost start to choke.

"_What_?" I ask, outraged. "Why do you want to know that?"

"I'm curious. Does it hurt?"

"We are _not _talking about this right now."

"Well then we can talk about it later."

"Fine."

"Fine?" Peeta asks.

"She's fifteen. It's about time we…you know."

"I'm not talking about that with Mom." Ryan says. "No way."

"You wouldn't be anyways."

…..a…...

"Does it hurt?" she demands. She practically dragged me into her room and slammed the door and locked it.

"Yes."

"Every time?"

"No. Only the first time, and it's only for a little while and then it goes away."

"How old were you?"

"Sixteen."

"With Dad?"

"No."

"Well Cato doesn't count, so how old were you?"

"Twenty three."

"With Dad?"

"Yes."

"What does a condom look like? Do girls wear them?" she doesn't even seem to feel the slightest bit of awkwardness about it. I'm glad she doesn't because that means she's comfortable with me.

"They're like…these plastic things that just cover the guy's penis…"

"Are you uncomfortable?" she demands, and we both laugh as I nod. "That's because you're pure. Aunt Johanna should be here."

I roll my eyes.

"Why do guys like boobs?"

I laugh at that. "Honestly, I've got no clue. They think they're sexy."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I agree." I reply.

I spend the next few hours telling her absolutely everything she needs to know.

"And last but not least, if you happen to get pregnant and your still young and don't know what to do, I want you to know that you can come to me or your father. We love you very much and sure, we'll be mad at first, but we'll get over it."

She nods. "Okay." She says. "What if I've masturbated?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Have you?"

She hesitates, but doesn't reply.

I don't say anything until she does, and finally she says, "Am I going to get pregnant? Mom I do it every night."

"No." I shake my head. "What do you use?"

"My hands."

I take a deep breath and nod.

"Okay. I would tell you not to tell Dad but I know everything we've just talked about is going to go right to him." She lays down. "I love you."

"I love you too."

…..a…

"Has she?" Peeta demands.

"Has she what?"

"Masturbated?"

"Has Ryan?"

"I asked you first."

"Yes she has."

"So has Ryan. He says he does it _every single night_."

"So does Rose."

"How does she do it?"

"Well how do you do it to me?"

"My fingers." He says. "God, I wish that we didn't have to have this conversation."

"With me or with him."

"Him. I wish that our kids could never grow up."

"Me too."


	18. Chapter 18

"Mom." Rose shakes me awake. It's a week before Thanksgiving and everyone went home. We are going to Paris for Thanksgiving break, coming home and then going back for Christmas and everyone is really excited. We have the house back to our family and Juliette got her room back. "Dad dropped us off and went to the store. He said you were still sleeping and we weren't to wake you unless we have to, but there this girl outside screaming bloody murder with this other girl and I think it's her older sister. Can you go investigate?"

I force myself to my feet and pull on jeans, a long sleeve shirt and my leather jacket, and then I brush my fingers through my hair and put on socks and my boots and go downstairs and outside. My kids follow me, and sure enough, there's a little girl sitting outside screaming her fucking head off. She has her bike next to her and the older girl, who is definitely her sister, is trying to calm her down.

"IT HURTSSS!" the girl screams. "NOOOOOOO!"

"Rebecca!" the sister shouts, annoyed. I walk off the steps through the snow and over to them.

"Is she okay?"

"She got hurt at school and won't ride home with me. She's been sitting here crying and screaming for the past half hour and both of my parents are at work."

"Do you think she needs to go to the hospital?"

"No, I think she just needs to calm down a little bit."

"Is her ankle swollen?"

"Yes."

"She could have broken it."

She shrugs. "Maybe."

"Honey, what happened to your ankle?" I squat down in front of her. I must have been sleeping for a while because Peeta pulls into the driveway.

He walks over to me after Rose explains what's going on.

"I got pushed at school by a mean fifth grader and I hurt myself."

"Do you want to try and stand up?" Peeta asks. She shakes her head.

"Do you want us to just give you a ride home?" I ask the older girl.

She shakes her head. "I don't know you."

"What's your last name?"

"Undersee. I'm adopted, she's not." She points to her younger sister. "My name is Taylor Grace."

"Undersee?" I ask, and my eyes light up with recognition.

"Yes."

"Is your Mom Madge?"

"Yes. How did you know that?"

"I was friends with her for a while when we were kids."

"She was at our wedding." Peeta says.

"We aren't strangers. Not really."

She sighs and looks down at her weeping sister, and then back at me.

"Alright…I guess you can give us a ride."

"Perfect."

Peeta squats down in front of the little girl. "Do you trust me?" he asks, and he holds out his hand.

She stares into his eyes for a long time before taking it.

…..a…..

"I think it's time we start talking in fluent French around the house. We have two kids that can't speak a word of French and are only three years away from turning eighteen." Peeta says.

"I agree." I reply.

….a…..

I've been talking in so much French lately that went I go on the Ellen show, I start talking in French.

I'm here now, actually, and Ellen looks at me. "What?"

"Sorry!" I cover my hand with my mouth. "we've been talking in fluent French at our house so I'm still into it."

"Why?" she asks.

"Because we need to teach the kids French." She nods slowly.

"Alright, we need to talk about what happened at Starbucks." She says. "Who is this girl? Why did you say to her? Why'd she slap you? More importantly, are you and Peeta fighting, because we know you guys had a bad fight near a cliff. Are you getting divorced?"

"Wait, one at a time."

"Right," she laughs. "Let's start with this girl." She puts a photo of Delly on the screen.

"Do you know how Peeta was engaged before me?"

"Yes." She says.

"That's his ex-fiancé."

"Oh." She frowns.

"Basically, we were in New York for my sister wedding stuff and she came in and was saying how Peeta was going to leave me for her and all that and I just said okay because I know Peeta and I know he wouldn't do that. She got mad because I wasn't snapping back and she slapped me. Honestly, I was just going to take my kids, sister, and then Johanna, Annie and Lauren and just leave because it really was just stupid, but then my daughter Rose, she got mad and they got into a fight. I pulled her off and we left."  
"So that's all?" she asks.

"Pretty much."

"And what about you and Peeta? We have footage of the fight but I'm not going to show it because it's no exactly anyone business to see."

"We just…got into a fight because I didn't tell him. When I'm really upset I kind of lose any ounce of common sense and we were t this cliff and I thought he was going to kill me." I laugh. "It's outrageous."

"Why would you think that? He must've done something before to scare you into thinking that."

I shake my head. "No. Honestly, Peeta is such a kind-spirited and gentle person and he's never angry, and when he is he just kind of hides until he calms down. When he's angry though, he gets really scary."

"Why?"

"Because he's so strong and he could kill you with the flick of his wrist. Not only that, but his eyes get pitch black and his breathing is all heavy because he's trying to calm himself down. It's just…when he's mad it's terrifying."

"Does he know you think this?"

"He does now." I pause. "Anyways, I get really mad and I just say stuff I don't mean and I have a really bad habit of running when I get angry or upset. So, I got really angry and I was crying and we were screaming at each other, which we never do, and I don't even think he have done that, and I said 'fuck you' and I left. I was gone until like eleven at night."

"Wow." She says.

"Yeah, but I came home and we apologized and made up and we're fine. When Peeta and I fight, it's only like once a year and we make up right when we see each other again."

"So your love is very strong?"

"Yes." I smile.

"That's good." She says. "So did Rosalee get in trouble?"

"She got a good scolding and I tried to ground her because I can take care if myself but Peeta said it's good that she protected me and he won the disagreement."

"You guys seem to be having a lot of disagreements lately." She says.

I shrug. "Well, everything between us is perfectly fine. We haven't been disagreeing on anything..."

Honestly, is it her fucking business if Peeta and I are fighting anyways? No, it isn't.

"Oh, well it just...that's just how it looks. You know, I saw you weren't holding hands with him when you came in."

I'm getting mad, and I can feel my body temperature getting hotter.

"That's because we were trying to control the kids. They're excited because we are going out of Kentucky for Thanksgiving."

She nods. "Cool."

I shrug.

"What about you and Finnick. Is something romantic going on between the two of you?"

My entire face contorts in disgust. "What?"

"Well we have a picture of you and Finnick hugging and him kissing the top of your head." It comes on the screen and everyone gasps.

What the fuck?

"Finnick and I have been inseparable since we were fifteen. He calls my parents Mom and Dad. He's literally my brother but he isn't blood, and it's just like adopting. You can still be family without blood. Honestly, I am not in any way attracted to Finnick Odair at all. The very though of being with him like that..." I shudder. "No way will I ever do that. Peeta is the only person I am attracted to, and it's going to stay that way."

She nods slowly. "I understand." She's quiet for a moment. "What's is a special talent Peeta has that we probably forgot about."

"He can sing." I say.

"Oh yes." A video of Peeta with the guitar singing come wake me up starts to play. He posted this online when we broke up. The audience cheers and I'm smiling so proudly.

When it ends, Ellen turns to me. "Does he sing around the house?"

"No." I shake my head. "He doesn't sing. That was actually the first time I knew he could sing. I haven't heard him sing for real since then."

"Why doesn't he sing?"

"I don't know. I think he's shy or something, but just about singing because Peeta is not shy at all. He has no problem taking to strangers. Also, he's not pure. Not even a little bit."

"And what about you?" She's smirking. "Are you pure?"

"Yes. I am very pure. I hate talking about..." I shake my head. "You know. Peeta on the other hand, he will talk freely about it without feeling a tiny ounce of awkwardness, and if he is uncomfortable, he doesn't show it. Sure, he admits it to me later."

"If you guys were...busy...and someone walked in, what would happen?"

I start giggling uncomfortably and my face heats up. She, and the rest of the audience starts laughing, and I begin squirming in my seat and shifting into a ton of different positions.

"It's happened before." I mumble.

"What?" She asks with a smirk.

"It's happened before." I repeat louder.

She raises her eyebrows. "Who came in?"

I groan, hide my face, lift my face, run my fingers through my hair and sigh. "Well, it was Johanna and Finnick." She starts laughing so hard.

"Where were you?"

"In the shower."

"And they just walked in?"

"Yes."

"And?"

I hid behind Peeta and he just said "can you please leave."

Everyone starts laughing and again, I hide my face until they stop.

"We're Finnick and Johanna embarrassed?"

"No. Finn told us to have fun and Johanna was laughing so hard that she was crying and she almost peed herself. They were downstairs when we um...got out of the shower, and Johanna started laughing right away and Finnick was choking on his coffee. We started locking the doors then."

"We're the kids home?"

"No." I shake my head. "This was years ago, back when we still only has Elizabeth. She was at my parents house."

"That's hilarious." She wipes away tears of laughter. "You are very pure. I really want to bring Peeta, Finnick and Johanna out here. Are they here?"

"Um, yeah, my whole family is."

"Would they be revolted at the thought of coming out here after the break?"

"I don't know. We can try." I shrug.

"Okay." They go to commercial and I go backstage and beg them. They agree and Ellen brings us back to the stage. The couch is too small so Peeta just pulls me into his lap.

Finn scoots over and Peeta scoots over and then Peeta pushes me into the space they created wedges between my brother and my husband.

The show starts and everyone seem really happy.

"Let's go back a couple years, shall we?"

Peeta, Finn and Jo all laugh and say "yes" and I groan and say "no." Everyone starts laughing then.

"So, let's just start with Peeta's non-pure ness and Katniss's pure ness."

Our kids are watching this. "Yeah, can we not?" I ask, and everyone looks at me. "Our kids are watching this..."

"Oh, no they aren't." Peeta says. "Addi, Ryan and Rose are watching Netflix on my phone and then Jillian, Juliette, Elizabeth, Caden and Cody are asleep in the dressing room."

"I thought you were supposed to help me out?" I ask, and he smiles.

"I'll make it up to you somehow."


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry this took forever. I'm ill, so I haven't had much time or energy to write.**

"So I've been thinking..." I trace a heart over Peeta's chest.

"Uh oh." He says, and then we both start laughing.

"We should get Ryan and Rose phones."

"Um...no."

"Why not?"

"Because then Rose will have boys to text and she could send nudes. No way."

"Peeta, you can't protect her forever." It's nighttime and we are all extremely jet lagged. Peeta and I are in his old bedroom. They didn't change it at all. It's still the way he had it as a teenager.

"I know." He sighs. We don't speak for a little while. I'm almost asleep when he whispers. "This is weird."

"What is?" I mumble, my speech slurring with my tiredness.

"Did I wake you?"

"No."

"We'll never mind."

"No, Baby, I want to know."

"It's just...I grew up in this room. I was in diapers in this room. I wrote on this wall with crayons. I masturbated the first time in here, I did everything in here. I had sleepovers, I've cried myself to sleep, I stayed up all night to wait for Santa...and now I'm in here with my wife."

"Is that bad?" I sit up. "I'll go on the couch."

"No!" He pulls me back down, closer than I was before. "Just think about it. It's weird."

I do think about it. I imagine baby Peeta in here crying for his mother. I imagine him getting ready for his first day of school and everything.

"The bed we are on right now is the exact same bed and mattress I have had since I was two years old." He whispers.

And then I start crying.

"What? What'd I say? I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"It's just so cute." I whisper. "I image you sleeping in this bed. You would look exactly like Caden and Cody but with blue eyes. I imagine you getting up for your first day of school and studying and learning to read and write and having sleepovers with your friends and looking out the window when you can't sleep at night. Did you used to think of the future? Who you were to marry? Did you ever think you were going to bring your wife in here?"

"I thought about that every night durning my teenage years." He whispers. "My bed was in this exact same spot. I put my arms behind my head and watched the fan go around every night when I was alone, and I just though, '"who am I going to marry?"' and I wondered where my wife was. I wondered if she ever thought about who she was going to marry. Is that weird?"

I shake my head. "No, because I thought the same thing. I think everyone wonders that at some point."

"You know what else I wondered?"

"Hmm?" I brush some wisps of blond hair out of his eyes. He grabs my hand and holds onto it.

"I wondered if you would ever do what you just did. I wondered if you ever would sleep in here. I wondered if you and I would ever make love in here. So far, everything has or will happen. I didn't realize it until now."

"We've made love in here?" I ask.

"I think so." He says. "We could make sure we have."

I smile softly. "Not tonight." I kiss him gently on the lips. "Okay? I'm really tired."

"Okay. We don't have to baby."

"I know." I lay down again and place my head over his heart.

After a few minutes of envisioning Peeta growing up in this very room and experimenting with his male parts, I realize how much I don't want to go to sleep right now.

"Peeta?" I whisper.

"Hmm?"

"Are you very tired?"

He starts rubbing my back. "Not really."

"Well I changed my mind." His entire body rumbles as he laughs, his voice muffled in his pillow. I smile watching him. He sits up then and pushes me so I'm laying down, and then he moves so he's hovering above me. "Do you have birth control with you, because I don't have a condom and Rye and Graham don't either."

"No." I say. "I forgot it on the counter."

He sits back. "I would say I'll pull out but I'm going to forget."

We study each other's faces. "Was making a baby in your room part of your thoughts?" I whisper, and he nods. "I even had a dream about it once."

"Do you want another kid? We don't really have room."

"I don't really mind if we have another kid." He admits.

"Well, if I get pregnant then I get pregnant, right?"

He nods. "We don't have to."

...8...

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. I woke up alone and the door was shut and I never really get to explore Peeta's room and I'm just curious. He remembered to pull out so we are okay.

I'm going through his room. Nobody knows I'm awake anyways and I shouldn't be doing this because it could upset Peeta. I go through his drawers and look at pictures and everything and I flip through his paintings and drawings and I go through his sketchbook.

I find a folder that is left blank and open it.

Papers upon papers come flooding out and go all over the floor and bed.

"Shit." I mutter as I scramble around and pick them up.

I pause though, because this is sheet music.

Well, two of them are sheet music, the other two are stories.

I scramble to pick them up because if Peeta comes in here and sees this, I'm afraid he's going to get upset.

I shove the folder back where he left it on his desk just as Peeta walks in.

He narrows his eyes and shuts the door. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." I lie.

"Are you snooping?"

"No."

He smirks. "Liar."

"Look-"

"You saw the stories." He says plainly.

"Are you mad at me?"

He shakes his head. "No. I know how you are honey. Did you read them?" He picks up the folder and I shake my head.

"Well you should read it."

"You want me to?"

He shrugs. "I guess. I like writing. It's fun. I write when your out of town."

"Who's it about?"

"Me and you. It's weird. I write different ways we could have met. This is going to be a full story.

"Are you done with it?"

"No." He pulls me into a hug suddenly. "I'm still working on it." I hug him back.

"Why is it here? Did you bring it here?"

He nods against my shoulder. "Yes."

He releases the hug after five minutes and then takes the folder and shoves it under his pillow. "Don't tell anyone, okay?" He taps my nose.

I giggle, "okay."

...8...

Later that night, Peeta and I are wide awake, so he hands me the folder. "Here." He says. He sits against the wall with his legs all over the place. I give myself an invitation and sit down in between his legs and lean back against his chest. He sighs in content and undoes my braid. He begins running his fingers through my hair. I sort through the pages until I find the first page and I move them in order because when they went all over the place they got out of order.

...8...

"Mom?" Rose comes walking into the room, waking Peeta and I. He doesn't even release his grip on me because all of the kids know how we sleep.

"Hmm?" I mumble.

"Can Addi and I pick your clothes today?"

"Why?" I ask. She looks confused by my question.

"It's Thanksgiving."

"It is?" Peeta sits up. He's shirtless, and she starts backing up towards the door.

"Are you guys naked?" She looks like she's going to vomit.

"No." I laugh. "He just doesn't have a shirt on." I sit up too, and she relaxes when she sees I have on his shirt.

"Okay. So can we pick your clothes?"

"I don't..." I run my fingers through my hair. "I don't care. Don't make me look humiliating or I'm going to change."

"Okay. Go take a shower and I'll make Dad take your clothes in."

"What time is it?"

"Six." I groan and hide my face in Peeta's chest. "Hon, it's early."

"Please Mom? Aunt Effie is running around demanding for us to get ready for the day. We are going to the Eiffel Tower. Uncle Haymitch keeps saying that the paparazzi are going to be really annoying and we need to look our best. Nana is inviting other people, one of them you know but I've never met. Dad's met all of them. Now please go get ready."

I groan and get up and stretch, and then I trudge off to the bathroom. I get in the shower and halfway through, Peeta comes in with my clothes. I wash out my hair and get out. They got me a white skintight dress that goes to about six inches above my knees and it's all long sleeves and red heels.

I have to admit, my girls have wonderful taste. The two of them come barging into the bathroom then, while I'm still standing there naked.

"We need to do your hair!" Rose says. "Mom! What are you doing? Get dressed!"

"I am not wearing this." I point to the thong.

"Why not!"

"Because..."

"Of just put it on or I'm going to bring Aunt Johanna in here."

While muttering under my breath, I put on the clothes, and deodorant, and perfume, and brush my teeth.

I hear Peeta bark out a laugh, and then most everyone else in the house starts laughing too because if Rose's threat.

I let them treat me like a Barbie because I love them. They curl my hair and insist on painting my nails.

They put the heels on for me. "Should we do makeup?" Addi asks, and Rose leans into her little sister and taps her chin with a light sigh, thinking.

"I don't know. She has natural beauty, ya know?"

Addi nods. "Maybe some lipgloss?"

Rose shakes her head. "No. Then she can't kiss Dad's cheek without leaving a mark."

"That's all the more reason to do it."

"I think we should just leave her as is." Rose argues.

"No. She has natural beauty but we could do something smokey and make her eyes pop."

"No. She's fine. Everyone knows what her eyes look like." Rose argues again.

They start to bicker and I listen to them argue over me for a while.

"Girls." I finally say. They both look at me.

"Tell her I'm right." Rose says.

Addi starts yelling.

"Girls!" I shout and they both cringe backwards against the wall. "Stop fighting. No makeup, okay? Go get ready before you piss me off even more."

They both start protesting as I walk out the bathroom. I turn around and cross my arms. "Are you arguing?" I ask strictly. The two of them exchange a look.

"No." Rose says.

"Good." I walk into the living room. Peeta is arguing with the triplets. They're all standing there in diapers arguing with him about the clothes they are going to wear. The heels the girls got me at like six inches, but still, I'm not taller than Peeta.

"I don't want to wear that!" Juliette screams.

"Be quiet butt head!" Elizabeth snaps.

"You be quiet turdy face!" Juliette snaps back.

Our family is chuckling. Mom, who is very well now and in remission, taps Mrs. Mellark's shoulder. "I remember these days."

"Yes. Now look at them. Dealing with their own. I'm intrigued to see what they are going to do."

Juliette starts full out screaming and stomping her feet and just throwing a tantrum. "I'M NOT WEARING THAT! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

"Okay!" I say loudly. I'm mad and she can hear it in my time. "Knock it off or your not going at all."

"Well then Daddy can stay with me."

"No, I will stay with you and you will sit in the corner in time-out the entire time. Now, are you going to quit arguing?"

She huffs and crosses her arms. "Fine."

I don't know why she doesn't want to wear this. I think it's adorable. She has black tights and a thick long sleeve gray dress with white sequins. It's thick enough to keep her warm. "Good. Now come here." I kneel down, very careful not to expose my crotch to everyone, especially because of the thong.

"So what were you giving a hard time about exactly?" Johanna asks.

"It doesn't matter."

"Oh yes it does. If it made you get dressed at the though of me coming in there then it really does matter."

"Right now it doesn't." I say, and I look at my kids and back at her. She huffs and continues dressing Mason. I dress Juliette and Peeta takes over for Caden and Cody, and then I dress Elizabeth and Jillian.

Ryan comes out in jeans, a light green button down shirt that's tucked in and a black suit jacket. Peeta isn't even fully dressed. He's got his jeans on, and the button down shirt, his is light blue, but it's not buttoned or tucked in. I stand up and check all of my kids. Addi and Rose come out in dresses that they begged me to but them. Addi's is red with little sequins on them and she even has heels, even though Peeta fought that one-I won, obviously. Rose has a black dress with white around her waist. They are all ready.

Everyone is ready now, actually.

"Son could you hurry up please." Mrs. Mellark says. "We're waiting on you." He has his shoes on too. He's just standing there and he probably completely forgot he wasn't ready. He starts fiddling with the buttons and I know he's taking his sweet time. I'm probably the most impatient person here aside from Johanna and Haymitch, so after one minute and he only has one button done I step forward and swat at his hands.

"You just like taking your time, don't you?" I ask, and he smirks but doesn't say anything. I button the rest of his shirt and tuck it in.

"I was taking forever for a reason." He says.

"So I could dress you like a toddler."

"No."

"Bull." I say, and he starts laughing.

I fight a laugh as I give him a stern look, but he only laughs harder, and it's contagious and everyone starts laughing, me included.

I walk off to his room and get his axe, deodorant, and his suit jacket, his phone, his wallet, my phone and my wallet, and then I walk back into the living room.

"Put these in your pockets please."

"Is this your way of not carrying a purse?" Ann asks.

"Yes."

She grabs all of the important things and drops them on Finn's lap.

"Gee, thanks Kitty."

I snicker. "Go put this on in the bathroom."

"Okay." He grabs my hand and pulls me with him. Right when the door clicks shut, he pins me against the wall. "What did the girls make you wear that you gave a hard time about?"

"Why don't you find out yourself." I whisper.

"Katniss." He says.

"Fine." I shift my feet. "They made me put on a thong." Our voices are hardly a whisper.

He releases his hold on me. "Well, let me see."

I lift up my dress and show him.

"Fuck." He whispers. I cover myself as he starts getting a bulge in his pants. "Katniss," he whines.

I bite my lip. "Put on your axe."

"We are going to have to go somewhere private." He whispers. "Tonight. We can sneak out."

I cross my arms. "Why?"

He grips my ass and pulls me against him. "Because I want you."

"Okay."

"Now get out and distract everyone so I can't get rid of this." He says, pointing to his dick.

"Okay." I slip out of the bathroom. He sprays the axe.

"What is he doing?"

"He has to take a shower." I raise my voice so he can hear it, but not enough to cause suspicion.

"He does? Why?" Mrs. Mellark asks.

"I don't know. He said he had to take a shower."

Johanna and Finnick catch on to my lie very quickly because they both burst out laughing. Peeta turns on the shower.

"How about you kids go and play?" Mom suggests, and they all agree and run off.

"What'd you do?" Haymitch asks.

"He made me do it." I say.

"What did he make you do?"

"He just...he wanted me to show him what the girls made me put on..."

"And did you?" He demands.

"Yes."

"Well, what was it?" Dad asks. He still doesn't like the idea of me having sex.

"It's not important."

"So you gave him a boner, yes?" Mom asks, and we all start laughing.

"Does it matter?"

"Why don't you go help him get rid of it?" She asks. I stare at her.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Um..." I shake my head. "No. I think I'm okay. He's fine. He's just going to take a cold shower."

I think he must agree with my idea because I hear the shower start.

"So who's all coming?" Johanna asks.

"Five of them Katniss knows better than the rest of us and the others, they're just family friends from a long time ago. Some of them haven't seen Peeta since we was five, so this should be interesting." Mrs. Mellark says.

"Who do I know better?" I ask.

"Just someone." She smiles and kisses my head, and then Christina's, and then Ashely's. She's still pregnant, Ashely is. She's due in about four months or so. Rye is super excited and he keeps stealing Emma from Graham and Christina. He used to make fun of Peeta for being over protective over me when I was pregnant but last week and went and apologized.

That shocked us all.

...8...

"Sweetheart, we need to talk." Haymitch says. I drift behind from the group and walk next to my

Uncle.

"What?"

"I've been thinking...what if we make your lives a reality TV show."

I start to protest but he puts up a hand. "I know. I get it. But, if you think about it my way, everyone thinks you and Peeta are getting divorced. If they come into your house and see your lives, you won't have to worry about that. You'll get tons of money, too. If something happens in public the cameras will be there so you don't have to go and travel to LA every time something happens. I think you guys would enjoy it. And...I'm not supposed to tell you this but Effie and I are moving to where you guys live."

"I know but having cameras all the time will just piss me off and I'll turn into the same person I was when I first became famous."

"No." He shakes his head. "I'm not going to let you do this unless they agree that when someone says they need to turn off the cameras, they do it."

I nod slowly. "I don't know."

"Well, at least think about it, okay?"

I nod. "Okay."


	20. Chapter 20

I'm so cold. Peeta told me to bring a jacket and I told him I would be fine.

I hear him sigh next to me, pull me to a stop and turn to me.

"Who told you to bring a jacket again?" he brushes his thumb across my blue lips.

"I'm not cold." I mumble, but my teeth are chattering.

He takes off his jacket and hands it to me.

"No, I'm okay."

"Katniss, I'm not going to stand here and watch you freeze." He says. "Please put this on."

"No, it's my fault I didn't bring a jacket."

"Yes it is, but, I'm not going to stand here and look like a jerk because I'm not giving you my jacket. Please honey, put this on."

I let out a long sigh. "But you'll be cold."

He takes my face in his hands. "I'm going to be fine." His hands are so warm and feel so good against my cold skin. I shut my eyes and sigh, content.

"Fine." I take his jacket and put it on and then link my fingers through his. We start walking again. "Haymitch wants us to do a reality TV show."

He stops. "What?"

I say nothing.

"I don't know…"

I explain everything that Haymitch told me.

"I don't know." He sighs. "I mean, it makes perfect sense and we don't have to do it forever. We can try out one season and then stop. I don't want to put too much pressure on the family."

I nod.

"What do you think about this?"

"I think it's something new...we can try one season. If it doesn't work out, we cancel it."

"Yes, I suppose we can do that." He says.

"So..."

"So yes."

"Okay."

...8...

We're at the Eiffel Tower. Someone taps my shoulder until I turn around.

"Jen?" I ask stupidly. She smirks.

"Surprise."

"Wait..." I look at Mrs. Mellark and she nods.

"Wow." I hug her. I haven't seen her in like...almost five years.

The other family friends are coming now, too, and I think they might all be here. Peeta is staying very close to me because he's uncomfortable.

Mrs. Mellark is talking very quickly in French with someone I don't know about which boy is Peeta.

"It's beautiful here." Jen says, and Annie joins our conversation. "The last time I came here, it was summer and I was here because I had a press conference and a signing with Nick." Her eyes harden when she says his name.

"Well look at this shit!" Ben says. Jen's brothers. Blaine snickers.

"It's Katy! Last time I saw you, you were eighteen!"

I laugh. "Yes. My name isn't Katy." I say.

"I know Katy." Annie giggles.

We are all forced them to take a million pictures, and it's not until the triplets start throwing a tantrum that they decide to stop.

...8...

We make the kids take a nap and then everyone starts to help with dinner.

Well, I don't because I can't cook. Peeta does though. The people, the close family friends, they're here and they're whispering in French about me. I don't think they realize I can speak French. Addi, Rose and Ryan are the only one's awake. They're watching some show.

"Mom I don't know what they're saying." Addi says. I hand her my phone. "Go on YouTube then."

"Non, je pense qu'elle est la femme de Graham." A redhead lady, the one who hasn't seen Peeta since he was five years. (I think she's Graham's wife.)

"Non, non, elle est la fiancée de Rye!" Another person, one I don't know says. (She's Rye's fiancé!)

"Elle pourrait être Peeta de mais il est si peu!" Someone else says. (She could be Peeta's but he's so little!)

I smirk and look down at my hands.

"Pourquoi ne lui demandons pas!" The redhead says. (Why don't we just ask her!"

"Elle parle français?" I can hear my family listening in to their conversation and a lot of them are laughing. (Does she speak French?)

"Nous pouvons essayer, mais d'abord, je parie € 50 qu'elle est mariée à Graham." (We can try, but first, I bet 50 euros that she is married to Graham.)

"Amende. Je parie cinquante ans, elle est engagée au seigle." The redhead says. (Fine. I bet fifty she is engaged to Rye.)

"Je parie mille elle est avec Peeta en quelque sorte, ou de forme." Someone else says. They shake on it. (I bet a thousand she is with Peeta in some way, shape or form.)

The redhead turns to me.

"Excusez-moi?" (Excuse me?) Everyone is moving into the living took to see who is going to win. Even Rose, Ryan and Addi know what is going on because they're using google translate on my phone.

I look at them in acknowledgement.

"Parlez-vous français?" The redhead asks. (Do you speak French?"

"Oui!" I smile, nodding. (Yes)

"Êtes-vous marié à Graham, engagé à Rye ou avec Peeta?" She asks curiously. (Are you married to Graham, engaged to Rye it with Peeta?)

"Je suis marié à Peeta." (I'm married to Peeta.) I admit.

The girl that is getting two thousand dollars starts laughing hysterically, but the other two go pale.

"Sérieux? Je ne savais même pas peu Peeta a été marié!" The redhead says. (Seriously? I didn't even know Peeta was married!)

"Nous avons été mariés pendant ... cinq ans de demain." Peeta says. (We've been married for five years as of tomorrow.)

They look genuinely shocked.

I remind myself that they haven't seem him because he hid by me the whole time so they have yet to know that he's Peeta.

They start freaking out and kissing his cheeks and leaving lipstick all over the place and I struggle not to laugh but I do and it's hysterical with my head in my hands just laughing so hard.

...8...

Turns out their lipstick was permanent so I'm kinda angry and so is he. Everyone insisted we spend the night at a hotel because our five year wedding anniversary is tomorrow. We're at the hotel now and Peeta's throwing a tantrum because he has lipstick if people other than me on his face.

"It's not fucking fair!"

"I know baby." I go to my suitcase. He stops talking and watches me because I'm only wearing my bra and underwear because I hate clothes. He's shirtless and in his boxers. I'm in the thong still.

"Katniss." He groans. "Stop torturing me."

"What do you want me to do?" I ask as I get the makeup remover from my bag. I used wikihow to find out how to remove makeup.

"Just...be shirtless like me."

"I am shirtless."

"Completely shirtless." I smile.

"Patience."

"I'm not having sex with lips from someone else on my face." He crosses his arms. I walk over to him and take him into the bathroom and use the makeup remover.

Sure enough, it comes right off.

He looks at me for a long time and then looks in the mirror.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Can you stand up please?" He asks. I do. He hugs me and unclips

My bra in the process. "I really love you."

"I really love you too. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just really, really love you."

I smile. "I really, really love you too."

"Say it again." He whispers. I hug him again, my arms around his neck.

"I love you, Peeta Ryan Mellark."

He puts his hands on my ass and lifts me up so my legs are around his waist.

"I love you too, Katniss Joy Mellark." He picks up my bra and tosses it on the floor at the foot of our bed and tosses me on the bed. He crawls on top of me and starts kissing me. His hands are locked on my hips, but they glide upwards. "I still don't have anything."

"I don't care honey."

The clock strikes midnight and every touch starts burning with passion and desire.

"Just think." He whispers against my shoulder. "Five years ago this minute, we were separated. Everyone was asleep but we were wide awake. I was sitting on the dock outside of our house." His hands move to my chest. "And you were sitting on the balcony of your hotel room. We weren't married yet. We had no kids. We were scared shitless."

"It was worth," I gasp. "Every single fear. You are worth every fear. I realized something the other day. I realized that god was showing off when he made you baby. I love you."

He smiles. "I love you too. You want to know something?" He stops and looks into my eyes.

"What?" I whisper. "Last night, after you feel asleep, I went outside because I couldn't sleep. Last night, I looked into the sky and matched each star with a reason why I loved you. It was going great until I ran out of stars."

**This is actually the end of story.**


	21. Chapter 21

"Gosh, it's so hot out."

We got the hell out of Kentucky. When we started the reality TV show, which is even higher up than the Kardashians, it just got boring in the small town of Kentucky, so all of us, and by all I mean _all_ moved to Los Angeles.

All of us being Finnick, Annie, Ben, Johanna, Blight, Mason, Prim, Collin, Mom, Dad, Haymitch, Effie, and of course Peeta and I and the kids, and then Rye, Ashley and Olivia, their new baby, and Graham and Emma and Christina. The show goes where we go, so if I went to Johanna's, I would go there. The whole family is used to it and it really doesn't change us or our lives. Peeta's working hard on opening the bakery.

Peeta's at work, and me and the kids are outside. The kids are all playing in the pool and I'm lying on a lawn chair watching them to make sure they don't drown.

I hear the back door slam with force, making someone's arrival clear, and whoever it was, they're angry. Peeta sits down on the edge of my chair. He's in a pair of basketball shorts and he took his shirt off. The hem of his boxers is showing.

"What's wrong?"

"Come here." He says. I sit up and he hugs me.

"What's wrong?" I repeat, giving him a kiss and then laying back down.

"Delly showed up." He says. The cameras follow Peeta to work, too, so they saw whatever happened. "She begged me for forgiveness and I left, and she gave me this." He shows me this flash drive, which he completely destroyed. His eyes are black in fury. "Come here." He begs. I scoot closer to him and he takes my spot. I turn around and scoot close so our knees are touching. "When I got home like a half hour ago," he takes in a shaky breath. He took a shower or something because his hair is wet. "I plugged this into my computer." He holds up the flash drive again. "There was this video…" he trails off and then he looks like he's going to be sick. "It was a sex tape. I stopped it before it even really started and I used the meat pounder and destroyed this and then I got changed and went jogging to clear my head. If I knew what it was I wouldn't have watched it and I'm really sorry."

"Peeta…" I search for the correct words.

"I'm just so angry!" he bursts loudly, and then he looks over his shoulder at the kids. "Caden!" he says. I look over my shoulder to see he's taking off his floats on his arms. Ryan puts them back on and they start playing again. "I don't know what to do and it's just really upsetting me! I wish I never even met her in the first place. Katniss, I-" he buries his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do."

"Baby, I think you just…I think you should let it go. If it comes down to it, we can just get a restraining order. This is getting ridiculous. You're married and she gave you a sex tape. She always seems to know where we are. You guys broke up most six years ago. She needs to move on." I tell him, and I keep my voice gentle to calm him down. "As of right now, you don't need to do anything. If she keeps going though, you can press charges because this is harassment."

"I don't want her near you or my kids or my brother or anyone else I know."

"I know you don't." I say. "You can't protect everyone. I know you want to, but you can't." He sighs and pulls me against him, keeping his head down so the cameras or anyone else, even me, can't see him, and then he buries his head in my shoulder for a while.

I stay in his arms. I know he's really upset by this.

It must be a long time, because he pulls away and we open our eyes and see it's getting dark. "I really love you." He says.

"I really love you." I kiss him, and then he stands up and stretches.

"Let's order pizza. I'm not in the mood to cook." He says.

"Alright."

He gets my phone and calls.

I'm not paying attention to him, because I hear the kids get all quiet, and then he picks me up and tosses me into the pool.

…a….

"Pizza for breakfast?" Peeta asks me. "You know I made French toast, right?"

"Yeah."

Juliette giggles.

This morning I wok in a panic because I thought I overslept and forgot to take the kids to school, but Peeta did everything for me, and when I asked him why he kissed my forehead and told me I needed my beauty rest.

He's working right now and reading papers. I wrap the leftover pizza in tin foil, put it on a paper plate and toss it in the microwave.

"Katniss, you can't do-" Peeta begins, but then he cuts off. "Never mind."

"Can't do what?"

"Nothing." He bites his lips, trying not to laugh. I yawn.

"Tin foil will heat it up faster in the microwave and make it cook faster."

I press random buttons and press start.

He lets out a snort.

"What's funny?" I ask.

The microwave says 1:23:33.

I bet that means one minute, 23 seconds and 33 milliseconds. I lean back against the counter in front of microwave.

"Would you please inform me _what_ is so funny?" I cross my arms.

A loud explosion comes from right behind me and I spring away from the counter to see the microwave is on fire.

And then he explodes in laughter.

"What'd I do?" I ask, panicked as the fire alarm start going off. He gets up and turns on the sink, tripping over his own feet, laughing so hard he's crying. He gets the spray nozzle and sprays the microwave till the fire goes out, and then he gets the fire alarm from the ceiling and pulls out the batteries.

"You can't put tin foil in the microwave!"

"Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because you had to learn one way or another!"


	22. Chapter 22

The front door slams and I know something is terribly wrong because Peeta doesn't even give me or the kids or the rest of the family a second glance, he just runs, and I mean _runs_ right past us.

I get up and follow him. He locked the door, and I take the bobby pin out of my hair and unlock it.

I don't even let the camera man in; I just shut the door and lock it. I know they'll listen through the door and put the words on the screen on the show; I just don't want them to see him like this.

Whatever _this_ is, because I'm not quite sure myself.

He's lying face down on the bed and he's crying. He's crying so hard that his sobs are silent.

"Leave me alone Katniss. The door was locked for a reason." He chokes out.

"No. You know I can't do that, and even if I could, I wouldn't." I sit down next to him.

I hold his hands and wait. After two hours and he hasn't stopped crying, I get up and leave the room. I go downstairs and get some water.

"Is he okay?" Rye demands.

"No. He's…" I look at the kids, but the little ones are in their own world and it doesn't really matter if Ryan, Rose or Addi her because they're older. "He's hysterical."

"Crying?" Graham asks, and everyone eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Peet doesn't cry."

"I know."

"Is he saying why?"

"No. the only thing he said was 'leave me alone. The door was locked for a reason' and then I told him no." I pause. "I'm going back up there. I'll come down when he's told me what's happened."

I go upstairs again and slip into the room and lock the door. I sit down next to him again. "Here, drink baby, it'll help."

"No. I deserve to die. Now get the hell out."

I don't know why, but that pisses me off.

"What? Don't fucking say that! That's not even fucking coo! You are twenty nine years old with a loving family and a good life! I don't know what the fuck happened today that made you this way, but can you get your head out of your ass and drink the damn water? Fuck Peeta, I'm your wife, not your bitch. We may me married but I'm not going to let you treat me like shit because you have bad attitude."

He sits up then, and wipes his eyes and takes the water and drinks all of it. "Sorry."

"It's fine." I cross my arms. "Do you want to tell me why you've been sobbing your eyes out for the past two hours?"

He gets up and opens the blinds to the balcony to let come light in, and then he starts pacing around, shedding his clothes till he's naked and then changing into sweatpants.

"I was working minding my own business and Delly walks in." he takes in a breath.

Something in my gut told me it had to do with her, and I knew I was right to think that.

"And Jared wasn't there so I was alone. She shut the doors. I didn't even see her because I was in the back. She walks into the room, right? She _kisses_ me, and then she strips. Completely strips. I mean completely, like butt naked. She was all over me and I mean, I couldn't just lock her in there. I had to make her leave and it was three hours till I finally threatened to call the police. She's insane! She kissed me Katniss! Please don't leave me!"

"You mean to tell me you've been sobbing your eyes out for the past two hours, not because your insane ex-fiancé was all over you naked, not because you were stuck with her for three hours, not because she's harassing you, but because you're afraid I'm going to break up with you?"

He stops pacing and looks at me. "Well…yeah…"  
"That's the craziest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth."

"I don't want to do to court with this but I want her to leave me the hell alone, Katniss. What do I do?"  
"Does she live here in LA?"  
"Yes and she said she lives in the apartments off of main street in building B, room 206."

"Okay." I get up and change into more outdoor clothing being cameo skinny jeans, a black tank top, take my hair out of the braid and put on my combat boots. He rushes into the bathroom to wash his face. I grab my car keys, sunglasses and purse and go downstairs.

"Wait, whoa, what the hell are you doing?" Peeta asks.

"I'm not going to let her get away with this."

"Katniss…"

"Stop it." I say. "You're my husband, and it's my job as your wife to protect my family."

"What happened?" Rye asks. We ignore him.

"I don't want you going over there alone."

"I'm a big girl, Peeta."

"Going where alone?" Prim asks.

"Delly's." We say in sync.

"Oh, I'm coming." Prim says.

"There, I'm not going alone."

"If she hurts you-"

"Don't worry about me." I kiss him. "I'm fine."

Prim gets up and follows me out the door. There's a camera in our cars. I put my sunglasses on and walk out the door and she follows me. We get in the car and before Peeta can even think about stopping us, I' gone.

"So what happened?" Prim asks.

I explain everything and by the time I'm done, I'm brushing tears out of my eyes. "She doesn't realize that whatever she's doing to him affects all of us. She's insane. I wish she would just move on."

"I think you need to get an attorney." Prim says.

"Peeta doesn't want to involve the courts."

"Well fuck what Peeta wants."

"Yeah, I might just get an attorney behind his back, but as of right now, I'm going to see how this works out."

"Good." She says. "He's my brother and I'm prepared to fight."

…a…

The camera man followed us because it's clear that he wants this on the show.

Hell, I want this on the show.

I knock on Delly's door. She answers it, gasps I panic and slams it shut.

"You can't avoid me forever. Either you open the door so we can talk or I press expensive charges on you for sexual harassment."

She opens the door and steps aside, letting me, Prim and the camera man into the house.

I need to say adult about this.

"You need to stay away from Peeta."

"And why's that." She puts her hands on her hips.

"Because what you did was wrong. He doesn't love you. He doesn't even like you. For him to come home the way he did because of what you did was wrong. If you really loved him, you would accept that he's in love with me and not with you. I'm sick of you messing with my family. You need to move on. You guys broke up almost six years ago. I'm tired of you coming around my husband and my kids. You need to stay away from us. If you want to get all up in married men's business all naked and disgusting, why don't you just become a prostitute? It'll serve you much better in the long run."

She takes a threatening step closer to me. "Peeta wants me. He doesn't want you. You just wait. His lips on mine today were so sweet. He wants me. You just wait Everdeen."

"It's Mellark, actually, and I can assure you that he wants nothing to do with you."

"We'll see about that. Tomorrow, when I show up there, I'm going to make sure I look better than you ever have."

"You better hope you don't show up there."

…..l…..

Peeta is just depressed now. It's been a week and I know he's dreading work each day.

"Peeta if we just an attorney-"

"No, Katniss!" he shouts. "Would you just stay out of it? God!"

The whole family is sitting right here and everyone just looks uncomfortable.

"Look, I know you're stressed and piss off right now, but it's not my fault she's doing this shit. Stop taking your anger out on me. Last I checked, I've been here for you this whole time! I want to help you and all you want to do is shut me out! I'm sick of it. Once you get your head out of your ass, you can come find me. Until then, don't even bother."

I walk out of the house, get in my car and drive right to Jen's house.

…..a…

"This whole mess is just weighing me down and I'm just upset. Delly is destroying my husband, and she's taking our marriage right with it. Jen, it's already been a week and look what happened. I left."

She shifts on her bed and sighs. "I would say go home but that's the last thing you need. If it's hurting you this much, imagine what it doing to the kids." She pauses. "Anyways, if it were me in your situation I would've given him a good fuck and then went and took matters into your own hands and gotten an attorney. That's just me."

Jen never fails at making me laugh. I laugh, and so does she, and then she sighs. "Not really. Honestly Katniss, if I were you, I would go home. I would tell him you love him, but right now, the fighting and shit, it's not healthy for you or the kids. I would take the kids and come back here, and when he gets this sorted, I would get him come here and talk to you."

"Yeah, but Peeta's very stubborn. It could take a year to get himself sorted."

"Not if he will get his family back that way."

"No." I shake my head. "I know Peeta better than anyone. "If I take the kids and leave, he'll think it's over. He'll sell the house and file a divorce."

"Are you sure about that?" she doesn't sound too convinced.

"Yes I am absolutely positive. See, Peeta thinks if I leave it's because I don't want him. His mind takes control and he convinces himself that I am unhappy. All he wants is for me to be happy. So, he'll say that if me being happy isn't with him, then he'll file divorce, move out, and the next time I see him will be in court."

"So he's filing divorce now?"

"No." I laugh and shake my head. "He knows I wouldn't leave without my kids. If I take the kids he's going to think I'm gone for good. If I leave the kids he knows I'll be back."

"Well," she sighs. "This is crazy. I personally am not a fan of Delly Cartwright. I wish she never met Peeta. I wish he spoke to you the first time he ever saw you when you guys were twenty, in Starbucks, and I wish you guys got married then. If Delly wasn't in our lives, none of this shit would be happening."

"What do you think I should do?" I ask.

"Spend the night. Kick back have a beer. Relax. We'll watch a movie. Tomorrow you can go home, tonight, I think you both need some space. Be at home when he gets home from work, if he goes, which he probably will. He'll go right to you if he's still Peeta. Then, give him a good fuck."

We both start laughing as she opens two beers and hands one to me.

"I don't think he's going to work tomorrow." I inform her.

"And why not?"

"Because he won't sleep a wink tonight. That, and Rose and Ryan and Addi are going to be giving him shit all night. He'll be so guilty."

"Well that's just too bad for him. When you go home, just give the kids your love till he comes to you. If he doesn't come to you, just go upstairs, pack a bag and come back. Keep repeating the process until he comes to you." She takes a swig of her beer. "Just saying, if you divorce, you'll be giving Delly what she wants. That's not you."

"I know." I sigh.

I end up having to put my phone on silent that night, because it just won't stop ringing.


	23. Chapter 23

When I put my phone on silent, it was really on vibrate, so I tossed it on a blanket to muffle it, but my phone vibrates off the blanket around right now and it vibrates me awake, and when I look down, it see it's the house.

I give in, pick up my phone and answer it.

I'm quiet for a minute, and then I run my hand over my face.

"Mom!" Rose says. "We've been calling you all night!"

I can hear the little ones crying in the background and Addi trying to get them be quiet.

"Mom, where are you? We've been home alone all night nd nobody was answering the phone and the little ones have been crying since three this morning! Dad left after you did and we thought he was going to come hoe but we didn't! This is chaos!"

"You've been home alone all night?" I ask, alarmed and pissed.

"Yes!"

"Okay, I'm coming home. I'll see you in fifteen minutes. Are you hungry?"

"We are all starving." She says.

"Alright, I'll be home in a bit. I love you."

"Love you, bye." She hangs up.

"What happened?" Jen asks. I explain everything

"This isn't right. Peeta wouldn't do that."

"I know." I walk out.

I stop at McDonalds to get all the kids something to eat.

I'm so pissed that the kids were left home alone, but this doesn't add up. Something happened to Peeta.

I pull into the driveway and rush into the house. The kids are literally screaming. Ryan, Addi and Rose are prtically pulling their hair out.

"Hey!" I say. "Come eat."

"MOMMY'S HOME!"

Al eight of them attack me in hugs.

"Yeah, come eat."

"Are you and Dad getting divorced?"

"Where did you go?"

"Is Dad sleeping with Delly?"

"Why didn't Dad come home?"

"If you get divorced who are we staying with?"

"Can I call Dad?"

"I hope we aren't getting divorced, I went to Jen's house, he isn't sleeping with Delly, I don't know why he didn't come home, I don't know who you would stay with if we got divorced, but I doubt we are anyways, and you don't need to ask to call your father." I answer as I divvy out the food to my animals. "Actually, I'm going to call him." I walk into the other room and dial Peeta.

"Katniss." He breathes.

"What the fuck is going on? I went away for less than a day to clear my head and then I get a trillion phone calls. When I finally answer, I hear the kids have been alone all night."

"I was going to court to find out what I have to do to get Delly away from me and I my car broke down and I'm too far from home to walk and I can't call a cap or a tow truck or anything because I don't have my wallet. I looked at the car and checked _everything_ and I saw someone cut a cord."

I feel terrible for leaving now, I need to remember that he's my husband and I need to support him.

I let out a long breath. "Okay, I can't leave the kids. I'll make someone come get you, okay? We're goig to figure this out."

"We're? Together? So we're _not_ getting divorced?"

"The only way we're getting is if you serve me."

"Which won't happen."

"Right." He says.

"Okay, I'll send someone. Where are you?"

He tells me, and then he hangs up. I call everyone I can think of and nobody answers, so I go ahead and call Jen.

I don't know what I would do without her.


	24. Chapter 24

We made up for a little while and then we went back to fighting. It was bad tonight.

I sit awake, staring at my cell phone. He's sleeping next to me. He isn't even facing me. Even now, the cameras know we're awake.

I'm crying my best not to cry right now. I'm so scared. I love him with everyone ounce of my being and all we're doing is fighting.

I don't know why I torture myself, but I go to my photos and start scrolling through them.

I see pictures of me and Peeta the day we met, before I knew he was engaged, before I fully trusted him. I see photos of us when we start dating. I see our engagement photos, and then the photos of our wedding. I see a picture of our first kiss as husband and wife.

And that's when I hide my face in my arm and cry silently, not allowed myself to shake because I know it'll wake him.

I keep going through pictures. Me singing Enchanted in New York City, which started this huge mess in the first place. I see me pregnant with his hands on my belly, the one time I softened up while I was pregnant with Elizabeth.

I see Elizabeth as a newborn baby. I'm looking at her and Peeta looks so confused, like he doesn't know who's more beautiful, me or her. He's looking at both of us in a way, and his eyes are filled with so much love. I see me pregnant with the triplets. Elizabeth is two years old with her hands on my belly and a look if excitement on her face. Peeta's sitting next to me and again, it's like he doesn't know who to look at. Me, or Elizabeth.

I see pictures of us moving around, the triplets and everything.

The last picture I have saved is from three months ago in Kentucky, before we started the show. I'm not even in it. Peeta's teaching Elizabeth and Jillian how to ride a bike.

I stare at our wedding photo for the longest time, until I run out of tears, and then I scoot closer to him and wake him up.

He looks confused at first. "What's wrong?" He asks. He studies my face for a second and sits up. "You've been crying. Why are you crying?" He whispers.

I bet he's cheating on me. He doesn't even seem to care.

"Are you cheating on me?" I whisper. "Please don't get mad at me..." I sound like a small child again.

"Cheating on you?" He repeats. "No." He shakes his head. "No way."

"I miss you." I whisper. "I miss you so much. I don't know what we're doing. What happened to this?" I unlock my phone and hand it to him.

He stares at our wedding photo for a long time. "People change." He says.

"So that's it?" I ask. "People change? You don't even seem to care anymore." He just stares at me. "What happened to the man I married?" I ask. I don't even sound angry, I just sound...broken. "Whatever this is..." I gesture between the two of us. "Your walking on a thin line right now Peeta Mellark. When you decide to actually care again, you can come and find me, and the kids."

"What?" He asks. "Are we getting divorced?"

"If you don't stop being a dick we will. For now, I'm taking the kids and I'm going. This is not a healthy environment for them to be in, not with us fighting all the time."

"Katniss..." He says.

I shake my head and get up and grab my bag off the hook and then I go in the bathroom and change into a t-shirt and jeans and vans. I brush my hair and walk out to our bedroom. He's still awake and he looks like he's having a nightmare.

I decide right here and now that if he tries to stop me, that means he still cares, and I'll give him one more chance. But, while he begs me to stay, he has to tell me he loves me.

I grab a bag from the closet and start packing.

Even the camera man looks really upset.

"Katniss." He jumps up. "Katniss stop."

"No." I say.

"Please."

"No."

"Please don't go. I'll fix it. Please. Don't go. Katniss please." He whispers. He looks like he's going to cry.

I just ignore him. He doesn't try to physically stop me because he knows if he does he's going to get a nice red handprint on his cheek.

"Katniss stop it!" Hysteria is reaching his voice now.

"You stop it!" I shout, and then I look at him and I know my eyes are either light gray or dark black, or they're just changing all the time because they don't know where to go.

"No." He shouts right back at me. "I won't stop it! I promised myself that I wouldn't let you go again, because when we broke up all those years ago it killed me! Do you know how many times I wanted to die? The thought of getting married to Delly was terrible. We broke up for the stupidest reason when we were engaged! I'm not going to let you go again."

"You can't control me!" I shout.

"I know! I know I can't control you, but I still can't let you go!" He shouts.

"Why?" I shout back. "Why the fuck not? It's it like you care anyways!"

"I love you god dammit! You know that!"

"How the hell do you expect me to know that?" I hiss. I hear the door open and the kids walk in. We woke them up, and I didn't even think about how loud we're being.

"What do you mean you don't know that?" He looks even angrier than he did.

He looks so angry and so uncontrollable that he starts reminding me of Cato.

"I mean exactly what I just said." I hiss. He looks so fucking angry.

"How could you now know that?"

"If you guys want to fight all the time could you please just get divorced?"

Rose asks.

"Go back to bed." Peeta and I say in sync.

I don't expect it, but she bursts into tears and leaves the room, and then everyone else does the same except for Ryan.

"I hope you guys know that you guys fighting doesn't only affect the two of you." He hisses, and then he leaves and slams the door. I stare after them.

"And that's why I'm leaving." I start packing again.

"Katniss would you fucking stop it?"

He asks angrily.

I ignore him.

I sinks down onto my side of the bed and buries his head in his hands.

I don't look at him for a long time, but then I know he's crying because every now and then, his shoulders shakes.

I look at him. "Are you seriously crying right now?"

"What the fuck do you expect?" He hisses, and he looks at me. "I love you with everything I have and I don't know what to do to prove it. I need you to stay. I know I'm doing a terrible job at showing it but I'm in love with you. I love you so much. God Katniss, please don't leave. I love you. Please don't go."

I look at my bag and bury my head in my hands for a couple minutes.

"Fine." I finally say. He looks at me he looks so desperate and hopeful. "I'll stay but both of us have to go back to the way things were before, back when we lived in Oklahoma. Tomorrow, you are going to City Hall and you are getting a restraining order against Delly, and you're going to sue her for sexual harassment. It's either that or I'm leaving."

"I will. God, I'll go to city hall right now." He says. "Don't go."

"I won't."

"Do you promise?"

"No." I say. "I'm not promising you anything major until you prove it."

"I will. I swear I will." He stands up. "Come here." He opens his arms wide and I walk right into them. His grip on my body is deathly and it's like he's never going to let go, and I don't want him to. I do what I always used to do and slide my hands under his shirt and rub my palms along the soft skin of his back. "I love you so much." He whispers.

"I love you too." I mumble. I pull away. "We need to go talk to the kids."

"Let's just kill eight birds with one stone and call them in here." He says, reaching forward to run his hands through my hair.

I nod in agreement and then he hollers for all of them to come in here. Jillian comes first, holding her teddy bear close to her chest, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks, then comes Elizabeth, crawling with her baby blanket over her head and going into our bed after Jillian.

Them Juliette, walking with her posture straight, her cheeks puffed out angrily, crying. She doesn't even look at us, she just crawls onto our bed

And pulls the covers over her.

Then comes Caden and Cody, doing the exact same as Juliette.

Next is Addi. She looks really upset and mumbles something about how we better not be divorced parents children.

Rose comes in with her arms crossed, her cheeks tear stained. She sits down next to Addi and refuses to look at us.

For a couple minutes, I don't think Ryan is going to even come, and then he comes storming in.

"Just letting you know, I don't want to be in here. I don't want to be near you guys right now because I'm really mad, but I'd rather avoid Mom's wrath." He sits down next to Rose.

I don't really know where to start with this.

"We're not getting divorced." Peeta says. "We're done fighting. I swear to god we are done fighting. Everything is going to go back to normal."

"And if it doesn't?" Ryan snaps.

"Then we're getting divorced." I reply. Peeta cringes and puts his arm around me, pulling me into his side. The kids look surprised by the action.

"Okay, what about Dad's insane ex?" Rose asks. "I hate her."

"Don't hate people." I say. "Hate is a strong word."

"Whatever." She says, and I grit my teeth to keep myself from replying.

"I'm suing her for sexual harassment and I'm getting restraining order." Peeta says.

"Sexual harassment?" Ryan repeats. "How was it sexual?"

"It doesn't matter." He says, pulling me closer to him.

"Are you guys going to stay Mommy and Daddy?" Juliette asks weakly, her thumb in her mouth muffling her voice. Her chin trembles.

"Come here." Peeta picks her up. "Your mother and I are going to be just fine. You don't need to worry about us, okay?"

"Okay." She whispers. He puts her down and all of them disperse to bed, muttering I love you on the way out, which we return.

I shut off the light, which I must have turned on some time during our argument, and then I crawl into bed.

"Honey, aren't you going to change first?" Peeta whispers. I pull the covers over me and take off my pants and put them on my bedside table. He hands me one of his shirts and I pull the covers over and me take off my shirt and bra and pull his shirt on. It's extremely hard but I manage, and then I pop out of the covers and he's gone. I look around and see him on the other side of the room, talking to the cameraman. He nods and leaves the room, and then Peeta loves the door and comes and lies down next to me and instead of pulling me against him, he moves and holds himself on all fours above me, but he hovers low so my boobs are against his bare chest.

"You are so beautiful." He whispers. "You put the stars to shame at night. I'm so lucky to have you. I love you." He kisses my forehead and passion mixed with heat spreads halfway throughout my body. He kisses my cheek then and the passion and heart spreads to my knees.

"I love you too." I whisper.

He kisses me on the lips and the heat and passion spreads from

My lips to my toes and then back up and down.

I deepen it and we start making out passionately. "Fuck." He groans very quietly. His dick is straining in his sweatpants, so he pulls away and takes them off and tosses them on the floor. He connects out lips again and coaxes me gently to sit up. I do, and he pulls his shirt off of me.

...&...

I wake first, and I take a shower and get dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and cowgirl boots and go downstairs. Nobody's up yet, so I sit down on the couch and flip through the channels. The kids start coming downstairs after a little while.

"Mommy I don't feel good." Juliette says. "Right here hurts." She points to her throat, her ears and her nose. "I have to breathe from my mouth."

I feel her forehead and then stand up. "I'll be right back." I promise. I go into the kitchen and rummage around for the right drug. Arms lock around my waist from behind.

"Hi." Peeta whispers. "What are you trying to find?"

"Medicine." I mumble. "Juliette's sick."

"She is?" His arms leave mine. He walks away and I hear him talking to her, and then she starts crying so he picks her up and brings her in here and puts her on the counter. He gets a flashlight from the link drawer. She sticks out her tongue and opens her mouth wide and I see him get pale. "Katniss." He says. "Come look at this."

I walk over to him and panic fills me. Her tonsils are laced in canker sores and swollen to the point where her throat is almost closed.

"Let's go." I say, lifting Juliette up. She's burning with a fever and I don't have any medicine to give her. I call

The doctor and argue with the receptionist for a good ten minutes until she asks my name.

"Katniss Mellark, now could you please-"

"Your appointment is in ten minutes." The line goes dead.

"Are you serious?" I ask my phone like it can hear me.

"What?" Peeta asks.

"She just gave me an appointment because I'm me."

"And that's bad?" He asks.

"Yes!"

"Okay. I'm sorry she gave you the appointment."

He sounds confused.

"It's bad because people treat me like I'm...I'm some superstar and it's just a job!"

"Honey, you kind of are a superstar."

"Mommy help me." Juliette cries.

"I'm working on it baby." I say. "I'll be back."

"What about court?" Peeta asks.

"You can go tomorrow or later." I reply. I grab my license and my car keys and walk out of the house.

...8...

Juliette is crying by the time we get there, and I'm trying to calm her down, fill out the paperwork and I'm on the phone with Haymitch and he's arguing with me.

"Look, I'm not talking about this right now. My family is my number one priority and that's how it's going to be." I hang up on him. I finish the papers and shift Juliette in my arms. I rub her back with my chin on her head.

"It's okay honey." I whisper.

"I don't feel good Mommy." She mumbles.

"I know." I whisper.

I get called back up and I finish the rest of the paperwork and I don't even have a seat chosen before Juliette's name is being called.


	25. Chapter 25

This is terrible.

Juliette has some type of virus. We got her antibiotics and when I came downstairs this morning, everyone was sick. All of the kids, and Peeta. I slept in late.

"Oh my god," I say, rushing around to feel all of their foreheads.

All nine of my babies are miserable.

I get the Nyquil I got yesterday when I got Juliette's antibiotics. I give it to all of the kids with a children's Tylenol for the little ones and a normal Tylenol and send them to bed. Then I give a normal Tylenol to Addi, Rose and Ryan and some Nyquil and send them to bed, and then I turn to Peeta.

"I can't go to bed." He mumbles, sniffing and rolling onto his stomach. "I," he coughs. "Have to go to court today to get," he coughs again. "The stuff with Delly done."

"Honey, your health is more important." I say. I give him the Tylenol and the Nyquil and send him to bed.

...8...

Two weeks later, I've gotten all nine of their tonsils removed and hacked them up on ice cream. The doc says I didn't get sick because I got my tonsils taken out already. They're doing okay, but they're in pain, obviously. I'm babying them so much, and everyone watching the show is seeing it too. I've bought fifteen movies in the past three days and we've gone through twelve gallons if I've cream, I've been doing their laundry and I've been brushing the girls hair every day so they don't have to do it. I'm just getting out of the shower, and I jump because Peeta's standing there. I wrap a towel around myself.

"What are you doing? You should be resting."

He shakes his head. "I just want to be with you."

"I'm right here Peeta." I smile.

"No." He hugs me. "I really want you."

"You just got surgery." I remind him. "When you're better, it will be okay, I promise."

"Well at least let me watch you get dressed." He says.

"You're so creepy." I laugh and he laughs, and then he winces.

He waves his hand. "Get dressed."

I drop my towel and he immediately reaches for my chest, and I slap his hand.

"No." I say. "You can jerk off all you want, but I'm not reliving you until you are healed."

He sighs. "At least let me touch them."

"No." I pull my bra and underwear on. "If I didn't love you and you weren't my husband I would call the police right now. You're looking at me like I'm a piece of meat."

"I'm sorry." He whispers.

"Your fine," I wave him off. I pull on my gray yoga pants and a white tank top.

"Oh that's not fair. Yoga pants should be illegal around your needy husband." He follows me out of the bathroom. I towel dry my hair and toss the towel in the hamper. I run my fingers through my hair and go downstairs. He lies back down on his spot on the couch.

To be honest, the past two weeks I've gotten about an hour of sleep a night because I keep stressing and checking on the kids and Peeta.

"Hon." Peeta mumbles. I look at him and he opens his arms. "Please?"

His arms look so strong and warm and tempting that I can't resist, and I lay down with him and he pulls me close against him.

"Don't let me fall asleep." I warn.

"I won't." He says.

Ten minutes later, I fall asleep anyways.

PEETAS POV

"Kids." I say. All of them look tiredly at me. "Don't wake your mother. If you need something you tell me, understood?"

They all nod, and then I fall asleep.

...9...

I feel movement in my arms, and when I open my eyes, everyone is sleeping, the TV shut off automatically and the sun is lighting up the living room. I look at the clock on the cable box and see it is 7:17 in the morning.

"Peeta!" Katniss whisper shouts. "I thought you weren't going to let me fall asleep?" She gets up and starts checking temperatures.

"We're fine baby. Come back." I mumble.

When she decides everything is fine, she lays down and goes back to bed.

...3...

Two weeks later, everyone is in great health. Katniss is at that Ellen interview that Haymitch has been harping her about.

"Hey Daddy," Rose sits down right next to me and leans against me. "Can my friends sleep over this weekend?"

She acts just like her mother. Blunt, straightforward, stubborn and she doesn't mine getting close to me. I always try to maintain a good relationship with me kids. I put my arm around her shoulder like I always do.

"Friends? Male or female?" I ask.

"Female's. There are six of them. Rue, Hanna, Ally, Caitlin, Carly and Trinity."

I picked Rose up from school, and Elizabeth and Jillian, but Ryan had to stay after and Addi doesn't get out till four and Katniss is picking them up on the way home.

"Six people is a lot..." I hesitate. "I guess ask when your Mother is here and whatever she says goes."

"Okay." she says. "Can I get an iPhone?"

I sigh. "No." I get it, she's almost sixteen, and Ryan is sixteen, and maybe I'm being a bit too stubborn. Katniss has already tried to let me get them phones but I keep refusing.

I hear the front door shut and Ryan, Addi and Katniss come in.

"Why not?" She demands, moving so Katniss can sit where she is, and then she leans against Katniss. "This is stupid! I'm going to be sixteen in two months and Ryan is sixteen! Why can't I get an iPhone?"

Katniss smirks and gets up, and then comes back with a beer.

Something happened. She doesn't drink in front of the kids unless she has a reason.

"Because..." I trail off. Katniss watches as Ryan joins in.

"I've got a girlfriend." He stays. "Her name is Sarah. She's a 38C."

"Nice!" I high five him. Katniss looks alert and stern, leaning against the wall, her beer in her left hand and her right hand resting in the pocket of her sundress.

"How would you know how big her tits are?" She asks suspiciously.

"She told me." He says. "Anyway, I can't text her. Why can't I have a phone?"

"Ryan, you can get a phone, Rose, no." I get up.

KATNISS'S POV

"Why can't Rose get a phone?" I demand.

"Yeah, why can't I get a phone?"

"Because you're too young." Peeta insists.

"She's going to be sixteen in two months!" I protest.

Rose looks happy I'm fighting this for her.

"So? Ryan already is sixteen." He says.

"She's getting a phone." I say.

"No." He says.

"Yes she is. Either they both get phones or neither one of them do." I challenge him, narrowing my eyes to say I'm not going to let him win this one.

We have a long stare down, and he falters and throws his head back.

"Fine!"

"Can I get an MP3 player then?" Addi asks.

"No." Peeta says.

"They make then without screens!" I say dramatically. "She can't sext anyone!"

He whips around and his eyes are dark with anger.

"What did you just say?"

"I said she can't sext anyone." I hiss. "You're being completely unreasonable here. Even Effie thinks this is ridiculous."

"Well Effie isn't their mother." he says.

"And I am, and I say she can get an MP3 player."

"No." He says.

"Fine," I say. "She won't get one."

"Mom!" Addi protests. I just shake my head and shoot her that look that makes all of the kids flinch, the one that makes them run for the hills. They call it the devil glare.

I have a plan.

"Mom, can six of my friends sleep over this weekend?"

"Makes or Females?" I ask.

"Females."

"What are their names?"

"Rue, Hanna, Ally, Caitlin, Carly and Trinity." she says. "You met their Mom's at open house, remember?"

I hesitate for a while. "Ally had a pack of cigarettes in her purse."

"Those were candy cigarettes." She says. "Remember you thought she was chewing gum?"

"I don't know Rose..." I sigh.

"They're straight A students. Please? I've never had a sleepover before."

I look to Peeta and he just shrugs. "Fine, but if I catch that kid smoking in taking her home and I'll tell her parents and you won't be hanging out with her anymore, understood?"

"Yes." She says. "Can we get tons of movies and candy and go night swimming? Can we have a bonfire? Please?"

I look at Peeta again. "Sure." He says.

I don't want my beer anymore, so I give it to him.

"Can we get a bathing suit from Hollister and new pajamas?" She begs.

"Fine. I need to talk to their mothers. I'm not letting a ton if fifteen year old girls in the house and find out they don't have permission."

...8...

I speak to all of the girl's parents and tell them how they're will be cameras and they all say it's fine and the next thing I know, Rose and I are at the mall on Thursday, the day before everyone comes. She drags me around the stores and we judge clothes together and instead of getting a new swimsuit and new pajamas, both of us end up getting an entire new wardrobe and we eat lunch and we get stuff for everyone else too.

Peeta's eyes get huge when we walk in the door.

"I thought you were getting two things!"

"We were." I say. "But then we saw cute stuff."

"Is all of this really necessary?"

"I got you those Nikes you wanted."

"Really?" He asks.

"Yeah." I say, and then I give everyone all of their stuff and they all got at least ten outfits each.

"Now you guys are going to go to Grandmas for a little while because Daddy and I are going out." I say.

...8...

Peeta and I went to Verizon and got Rose and Ryan iPhone 5s'. Rose got black and Ryan got white.

And, after begging and harassing Peeta, we got Addi a Samsung Intensity 2.

We go and pick the kids up. When the little ones are in bed, we call Addi, Rose and Ryan downstairs.

"Sit down." I say.

They look scared.

"Okay." I say. "When we brought you to Grandmas do you want to know where we went?"

"Where?" Addi asks.

"Verizon Wireless."

I see excitement build up in their eyes.

Peeta gives Ryan and Rose their phones and they start freaking out.

"Now Addi, I know you wanted an MP3 player and I fought really hard for this one. I won." I hand her the phone.

"Oh god, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugs both of us, kissing our cheeks.

They keep thanking us.

"There are a few conditions." I say.

They all look at me. "Addi, you don't have internet on your phone. The screen is so small that you hardly need it. Ryan, Rose, you have parental controls with a password only your father and I know. If you make any time if social media account such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on and don't ask and we find out, you'll get your phone taken away till your eighteen and you are the one paying for it, understood?"

"Yes." They say in sync.

"Can I get an Instagram?" Rose asks.

"No." Peeta says. He looks at me. "Don't try and push it." He says. "Rose, you realize that I didn't even want you to get that, right?" She nods.

"Then you are not getting an Instagram, not yet. Ryan, the same goes for you. Also, any texts you delete, they get sent right to us so don't even think about sending nudes. You guys have never seen me angry, and if either one of you sends them, Addi included..." He inhales sharply and doesn't finish his sentence.

"Tomorrow when we're at school can you guys go get us cases?" Addi asks.

"Yeah, I want a life proof case so tomorrow night I can take pictures in the pool." Rose says. "Can you get me a pink one?"

"And I want a blue one." Ryan says.

Addi shrugs. "I don't care. Mom will know what one I'll like."

...9...

Peeta and I got the phone cases, and on the way to pick the kids up, we realized we are not going to have enough room in our car with our eight kids and Rose's six friends.

I take Peeta and the kids home and call Rose.

"Mom?" She asks. "Where are you?"

"I had to drop Daddy and the kids off at home."

"How long until your here?" She asks. "It's hot."

"Um, ten minutes." I say.

"It's hot." She repeats.

"I know." I say. "I'll have Daddy make milkshakes. I have to go."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too, bye." She says.

"Bye." I hang up.

I get stopped at every light. I remember to call Peeta.

"Hey." he says.

"Hey, listen, can you make milkshakes for everyone?" I ask.

"Um, I guess."

"Awesome. Thanks. I love you."

"I love you too." He says.

I pull up in front of the place I pick the kids up from and unlock the doors. They come piling in. Ryan looks like he's going to . He mouths "help me" to me, and I smirk.

"Alright, I have to go." I tell Peeta.

"Good luck." He says.

"Thanks. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up. I check all of the girls to make sure they have their seat belts on and I check the surroundings and then I back up and start the half hour home.


	26. Chapter 26

It's summer. Something about the way Peeta's been acting for the last week is making me very suspicious.

After begging for a while, Mrs. Mellark convinced us to fly the kids out to Paris.

The kids mean every one of them.

Ryan, Rose, Addi, Jillian, Elizabeth, Juliette, Caden, Cody, Ben, Mason, Emma and Olivia.

I was sick to my stomach at the thought but Peeta talked me into it.

We are on a break between seasons so we don't have any cameras here. The season ends when the kids start back in school.

The kids left about two and a half weeks ago. It feels like we're twenty two again and we just started dating and we have no kids. I've forgotten what quiet sounds like.

Still, I wouldn't change the last at all, because everything lead to my life now.

I'm sitting in a bikini on the pool chair and Peeta and sitting behind me. He has been rubbing sunscreen all over me for the past hour. He constantly leans closer, kisses my cheek and rubs sunscreen across my boobs. I can't even count how many times he's dipped his hands into my bikini top.

"I've been keeping something from you." He admits.

I snort. "I know."

He sighs. "I might be going away..." I turn around on the chair.

"Away?" I repeat. He nods and pushes me so I'm laying down and puts my legs around his waist

He starts rubbing my inner thighs.

"I spoke to my dad about opening the bakeries...he said he had his friend going and doing it because he didn't have family or a wife. I would have to do it myself." He leans down and kisses my neck. "That could take a year, maybe two."

His hands on my inner sides move my bikini bottoms aside. I push his hands away before I lose myself completely.

"If someone hears us they're bound to call someone. If we have sex out here, the paparazzi will come overhead. Don't do that."

His eyebrows furrow into a pout and he sighs.

"We can be super quiet." He insists.

"No. We need to talk about this." I reply.

He sighs.

"You can go for a little while..." I mumble.

"I don't know if I want to do this all over. We can do one in New York City, one in Florida and one here in LA and maybe Malibu. That's fair, right?"

"That's much better."

"Good, now, back to what I was doing." He moves my bottoms again.

"No Peeta." I warn.

"You can be in charge." He whispers.

I'm quiet for a while. "Let's go inside."

FINN'S POV

Annie and I are just getting out of the shower when my phone starts vibrating like crazy. I wrap a towel around my waist and pick up the phone. It's Peeta's mother. I quickly press answer.

"Hello?"

"UNCLE FINNY I NEED HELP!" I hear Elizabeth scream. She's sobbing her eyes out.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

I don't get a reply, I just get sobbing. I hear voices and sirens in the background.

"Rose and Addi and Ryan got hit!" She screams. "And Nana and Papa are talking to important people!"

"Hit?" I repeat.

"By a bus! And Mommy and Daddy aren't answering the phone and they're putting Rose and Ryan and Addi in a big car! I want to talk to Mommy and Daddy!"

"Okay, honey, calm down. I'll go get them." I say.

She hangs up.

"Ryan, Rose and Addi got hit by a bus. Kitty and Peet aren't answering."

"Oh my god!" Ann whispers. I pull on a pair of boxers and a shirt and grab my wallet and phone and keys and don't even bother drying myself off. Annie follows me out to the car and I don't follow the speed limit.

KATNISS'S POV

"WAKE UP!" Finn shouts.

"Get out!" I shout back.

"Elizabeth just called me hysterical because Ryan, Rose and Addi got hit by a bus."

I fly up.

"What?"

"Your naked." He says.

"They got hit by a bus?" I repeat, starting to grab random clothes and pulling them on. Peeta does too.

"I didn't talk to an adult but...I hear sirens. She said that Mrs. and Mr. Mellark were talking to important people."

"Paramedics," I say. "That what she calls important people."

"She wants to talk to you and Peeta."

I grab a suit case from the closet and dump my drawers in. Peeta joins me

And Finn pulls out his phone and starts calling people, and literally five minutes later, Rye, Graham, Mom, Dad, Haymitch, Effie, Johanna, and Blight are here. We decide we can just share clothes. I'm on the phone, arguing quickly with the airport and I know I'm really worried and pissed because my voice is drifting from a deep French-American accent to a American Country accent and I'm talking so fast I can hardly even understand myself, and then my voice starts rising do Haymitch takes my phone and calmly explains the situation. Five minutes later he hangs up.

"Let's go."

...8...

We take my escalade and I break the speed limit worse than I ever have, and on the way I call Mrs. Mellark.

"Mommy?" Elizabeth asks.

"Hi honey."

Immediately, she bursts into tears.

I swerve around someone on a motorcycle.

"Mommy they're hurt. They're hurt Mommy."

"I know baby, I know."

"I want to see you!" She sobs. "Where's Daddy? Let me hear him!"

I put it on speaker.

"Elizabeth, honey," I hear Mrs. Mellark in the background.

"It's Mommy Nana!"

"Let me talk to hear!" I hear Jillian scream.

"Shhh!" Someone shushes. "You're in a hospital!" Mrs. Mellark says.

"Let me talk to her!" Cody screams.

I hear all of my kids, and Ben and Mason trying to get on the phone and then I hear a loud bang and then the line goes dead.

I press on the gas harder.

Someone is actually waiting outside for us.

From the time we called the airport to the ten minutes it took us to get to the airport, the news is out that our kids got hit and right when we get out, we are swarmed by paparazzi.

Someone is there waiting for the keys. I hand them to him and thank him and lug our luggage inside.

Once we're enclosed in the plane I realize how long of a plane ride this is going to be.


	27. Chapter 27

"I know where to go." Peeta says, taking the escalade keys. We rush through the streets of Paris. It's three in the morning. We go to the bakery and nobody's there. We just ditch our luggage, and then Peeta rushes out again and we follow him to the car. I make a point to grab clothes for all of the kids before we leave.

It takes fifteen minutes to get there by foot.

Peeta walks in and goes right to the lady at the front counter.

"Mes deux filles et son fils sont ici." He says. (My daughters and two sons are here.)

"Quels sont leurs noms?" (What are their names?)

"Addison, Rosalee and Ryan Mellark."

Her eyes snap up to his, and then he looks over his shoulder at me and nods.

"Ils sont à l'étage cinq, salle 1528." She says. (They are on floor five, room 1528.)

We thank them and rush down the hallway.

When we get to the elevator, I press floor five and hold down door close. In hospitals, they hold down door close and it makes the elevator go right up to your floor without stopping at the waiting floors.

The does open and all of us go rushing down the hallway.

I hear our children arguing with Mrs. and Mr. Mellark. The door is shut and I cam still hear them. Visiting hours are over, but the nurses don't stop us.

I walk into the room.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Elizabeth screams. Peeta picks her up.

"So, what's the deal?" I ask.

"Okay," Mrs. Mellark says. "First, I am so, so sorry."

"It's okay. It's not your fault." I say, looking at my older three kids.

"Okay. We were walking to the store. The three of them were trailing behind us. The light turned green as they were walking across the street. We were already crossed. A bus driver didn't look and he started driving. He wasn't going very fast, but he sent them airborne about ten feet. They landed pretty hard. All three of them broke their arms. Ryan broke his right and Rose and Addi broke their left. They have serious concussions and they're unconscious but they're going to be okay."

"They've been unconscious for how long?" Mom asks.

"About...fourteen hours.

A nurse comes in and gives us a sad smile.

She does give Mr. and Mrs. Mellark any more information since we are here.

"Nous pensons Addison va se réveiller très tôt et Rose juste après elle. Ryan va probablement se réveiller une heure après eux. Il a pris la plupart du succès parce qu'il a bloqué les filles du mieux qu'il pouvait." She admits. (We think Addison will wake up very soon and Rose right after her. Ryan will probably wake about an hour after them. He took most of the hit because he blocked the girls as best as he could.)

Just when Peeta's about to reply, I hear Addi start crying.

"SISSY!" Elizabeth screams.

I snap my fingers at her and point right in front of me with that stare that scares them.

"Stop yelling. You are in a hospital. Many people are very, very sick here. If you yell one more time Elizabeth Julia..." I trail off, whispering.

She nods and sits down.

The nurse is asking her questions in French, like her pain level on a scale of one to ten, and why she is crying.

"Elle ne peut pas parler français." (She can't speak French." I say.

The nurse looks at me and sighs, frustrated.

"Mom? Mommy? Nana, is Mommy and Daddy here?" Peeta and I walk over to her bedside.

"We're right here honey." I say. She forces her eyes open.

"Don't cry." Peeta says. "It's okay. You and Rose and Ryan are going to be okay."

Suddenly, I hear a long beep coming from Rose's bed.

All of our eyes snap up to her bed. She's sitting up and disentangling the cords from her body. She starts pressing buttons on the machine muttering about people needing to look before they drive and how she isn't dead and how the "stupid fucking machine needs to shut the fuck up" and then she sees me and Peeta and does a double take, and then I see her swallow nervously as she looks into my eyes, and then she puts the heart monitor back on.

"Um..." She says. She's looking at me. My lips are set in a straight line and my eyebrows are raised. "Sorry."

I take a deep breath. "I did the same thing."

She frowns. "When?"

"I drove myself off a cliff. I was in a coma for months. I woke up and I kept taking the heart monitor off. It's a pain, isn't it?"

"Yes." She says. "Can I have a hug? From...both of you?"

I hug Addi while Peeta hugs Rose, and then we switch. Rose holds me very tightly with her head buried in my shoulder.

When I pull away, she's crying.

No, she's hysterical. I help her sit up.

She needs comfort. She's hiding her face with her right hand because that's her good hand. I sit down next to her and pull her into a hug.

Rose is crying harder than Addi was, and it's hard enough to wake up the triplets and they start freaking out when they see Peeta and I.

She's gasping for air. "I, I was conscious for a minute after I hit the ground." She sobs out. Everyone is listening to her. I'm rubbing her back and letting her soak my t-shirt. "And I thought I was dead. The only thing I c-could think about w-w-was how I'd never be able t-to tell you and D-Daddy how much I love you guys. A-and how I- would n-n-never be able to s-see you guys aga-in."

I pull her closer and run my fingers through her hair with one hand and rub her back with the other.

"You're not dead." I whisper. "We're here."

"I love you Mommy. I love you so much."

"I love you too. It's okay honey. Your alive, we're here. You're okay. You are okay." I whisper. I pull away and wipe her tears.

Peeta taps my shoulder. He doesn't even need words to tell me what he wants. I get up and he sits where I was.

He's so much better at comforting people than I am.

He's whispering something to her and rubbing her back in small circles. I sit down with Addi. She scoots all the way over.

"Sit down with me." She whispers. I sit down and she melts into my side. She takes my hand and holds on, resting her head on my shoulder. I rub circles on the back of her hand.

She drifts off on my shoulder.

The gentle sound of my children's hearts beating lulls me to sleep, too.

...8...

"Kitty," Finn says softly, rousing me. I look at him. "Ryan's awake."

I look over at his bed. Peeta's up, showered and changed. Addi is still sleeping and I rested my head on hers in the nighttime.

Ryan is wide awake, talking to Peeta about Sarah. "No, she called me and told me that she never saw me anymore and then she started complaining because I didn't have sex with her or finger her and then she broke up with me."

Peeta raises his eyebrows. "Sex? Your only sixteen."

"I know." He sighs. "Whatever. I was upset about it at first and I ranted to Nana and Papa and everyone else, but honestly, I'm over it. All she wanted from me was sex. I'm not having sex till I'm ready." He pauses. "I'm not allowed to anyways." He says. "But even if I was allowed, I wouldn't."

The whole "wait a year or get engaged" thing with sex still applies.

"That's the smart thing to do son." Peeta says. "If all she wanted was sex, she isn't worth your time."

"Is that how Mom was?" Ryan asks.

"What?" Peeta asks.

"Like...did Mom only want sex?"

Peeta laughs. "Your mother wanted nothing to do with me."

I don't think they even know I'm awake yet.

"Really? I have a hard time believing that."

Peeta laughs. "Well, believe it."

"Mom ran into you in New York, right?"

"Yes. She had Starbucks from where Finnick worked. I have a white long sleeve shirt on and my shirt was see through. She felt terrible and she bought me a new shirt. I begged her to let me take her to get a new coffee and I knew she wanted to be away from me. I think she hated me."

"Well your wrong." I get up.

"No he isn't." Finn says.

"Yes he is." I say. "Right when I saw your eyes I was gone. I didn't know it. I was afraid. I wanted nothing to do with what was in your pants, simply because of my history with men. Although, had I ran into you on the way into Starbucks I probably would have gotten you a new shirt and ran away."

"What happened in Starbucks?" Finn asks.

"That was the day you told me you'd fallen in love with Annie. I told you it was moving too quickly and that you'd just saw her, but I was wrong. I didn't believe in love at first sight. I didn't believe in any love. Finn, had you not given me that lecture, I wouldn't be married with all of this family."

"Well then I suppose I should thank you." Peeta says.

Finn shrugs. "It's not a big deal."

Peeta laughs. "Yes it is."

"Um...okay. Your welcome."

Ryan frowns and asks me. "When you were eighteen, where did you see yourself in ten years?"

"I saw myself still working at that recording company in New York. I was Finn married with a kid or two. I saw me still in that little studio apartment; single, with no kids, still scared as hell from Cato."

"You're not afraid anymore?" Rose asks.

"Nah," I shake my head and sit down at the end of her bed. "Fear is just an illusion to the mind."

"What do you mean?" Addi asks.

"What I mean is you are only afraid of something that scares you."

"So..." Rose trails off.

"And even some things that don't scare you. You get scared because you think of bad things that have happened or could happen."

"Can we have an example?" Ryan asks.

"You guys are afraid of walking across the street now, aren't you?"

"Yes, and cars moving when I'm outside," Ryan says, and Rose and Addi nod.

The whole room is listening carefully to what I'm saying.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because we got hit by a bus." Ryan laughs.

"Exactly, now, if I were to send you outside and made you walk across the street, what would you be thinking?"

"I would be thinking how I'm going to get hit."

"Okay. So, you're scared. You are scared because your mind is telling you that you are going to get hit again."

"What does this have to do with you being uncomfortable with guys and not liking Cato?"

"I hate Cato because of what he did to me. I was afraid of him because I thought he was going to do it again. I was afraid of every man except for family and Finn because I thought that if Cato could do it, other people can too."

They're silent.

"Right now though, if Cato walked into this room right now and tried to make a repeat of what happened, I would tell myself that I can get away. Then, once I'm motivated, the adrenaline would kick in, and then I'd get away."

"So if you tell yourself all of the good things then you're not afraid anymore?" Ryan asks.

"Pretty much, unless you think one bad thing."

"Wow." He says. "I didn't think of it that way."

"Also, I've found that when you're in pain and you tell yourself you're not, you start to feel okay. The same with being hot or cold just tell yourself the opposite. It's called reverse physiology."

"Wow." Rose says. I look at her. She's itching her wrist viciously and it's drawn blood.

Only it's not a bug bite, its cuts.

It's deliberate cuts.

Rose is cutting herself. I can tell, because they're all the way up her arm and too deep to be just a scratch.

My baby girl is cutting herself.


	28. Chapter 28

She sees me looking and immediately, she shoves her hand under the covers.

Our eyes lock, and she looks like she's going to be sick.

She looks like she's going to burst into tears.

I'm opening my mouth to say something when she starts shaking her head like crazy.

"What?" Peeta asks.

I shut my mouth and grit my teeth, thinking for a long time.

I should wait till they get discharged...

I shut my eyes. "Yes or no?" She looks down. "Rosalee Annabell, so help me god-"

"Yes." She whispers.

I shut my eyes and run my fingers through my hair.

"What's going on?" Peeta asks.

I opens eyes and look at him. Rose looks scared.

I'm thinking about covering for her, but Peeta's her father...hems going to be really mad if he finds out a lied about this.

I can't risk a fight between the two of us.

I get up and walk over to him and lean in really close to his ear and cup my hands around my mouth and whisper so quietly that only he can hear, "Rose has cuts all up and down her wrist."

I pull away and look into his eyes. "She has-" I clamp my hand over his mouth. He pulls my hand away and looks at Rose. She pulls her knees against her chest.

"Now is not the time." I say.

...8...

The kids get discharged a couple hours later. Peeta and I have a whispered argument on the way back to the bakery. He thinks we need to talk to her together.

"No." I say. "That's going to be too much. She's not going to cut herself if she isn't depressed. I know much more about depression than you do."

"But I'm still her father."

"Peeta just let me talk to her before you do."

He sighs loudly. "Fine."

"When I'm talking to her, put the little ones to bed and let the family know what's going on so they're prepared. We all can talk to her."

I rush forward to catch up with Rose, and I pull her aside and we head in the opposite direction of our family. We let my parents and Peeta's parents take my escalade.

Rose freezes and watches everyone walk away.

"Mom..." She whimpers.

"It's okay." I put my arm around her shoulder.

"Do you hate me?" She asks.

"Honey, no." I whisper. "I just want to talk to you."

She sighs. We walk in silence to the Eiffel tower. She sits down on a nearby bench and then moves to under the Eiffel Tower. She sits down so she's facing me and I sit so I'm facing her.

She doesn't wait a second because she knows what I want.

"When my biological Mom died it was really hard for me." She says. "Which was stupid, because...you were my Mom all along. I mean...she was super nice to me and Jillian, but...it's like she was babysitting me until you and Daddy came along." She sighs. "I was really depressed. It was bad. I moved so many times. Another school, another house. It was my temporary home. Jillian almost got adopted but I refused to let her go. When the foster home in Kentucky burnt down, I hightailed it with Jillian. It was such a small town that we were the only two there. I was still upset but it got better when I got away from the foster home. When you and dad too me in...I don't think you realize just how thankful I was. I still am." She pauses. "I was careful. I didn't want to get attached. I knew if I did I would lose you guys. I was used to everywhere being my temporary home." She pauses again. "Now I trust you guys never to give me up for adoption again. I know I'm here to stay." She looks down. "But then when we moved to California...god, the girls I was friends with turned vicious. They treat me like I'm a mannequin. People let them. Ryan doesn't know. I'm being bullied Mommy, and it's bad, and it hurts, and the depression is back. I have no friends. I sit alone. Ryan doesn't have my lunch. We never even see each other."

"Oh honey..." I whisper. "Why are you listening to them. What are they saying?"

"They're calling me a skank and a whore and a bitch and a sobby rich kid and a goodie two shoes and an over achiever and a spoiled bitch and a wanker." She says. "The wrist part is nobody sticks up for me except for a cute boy with a load of friends. He definitely one of the most popular people. He's cute, too."

"He sticks up for you?"

She nods. "I think he does it to amuse people."

"How does he do it?"

"Well he starts yelling at the girls."

"Does he look like he's joking when he does it?"

"No."

"Then..."

"I shut people out. Everyone hurts me. I dread school."

"Honey...did you ever think that maybe this boy is actually trying to be nice and stick up for you?"

"I can't let myself think like that. I'll get my hopes up and end up falling right back down again."

"Honey...no more of this." I point to her wrist. "If you do...we'll see what happens."

"Okay." She whispers.

**WARNING! **

**NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE A HUGE PLOT TWIST AND NONE OF YOU WILL SEE IT COMING**

**LEAVE A REVIEW TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK IT WILL BE**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games or the characters or anything from the hunger games**

**-KatPeeta23**


	29. Chapter 29

Ryan got his driver's license so Peeta and I got him a car. The kids are fine and they're back in school as of today.

I hear two car doors slam outside and Rose come bursting in the house, sobbing. My family is here, and she shoots right past us.

Today was her first day back.

Ryan comes in then, with a black eye.

I jump up and go after Rose.

I hear commotion downstairs and footsteps of someone following us. Peeta's downstairs still, as far as I can hear, so I'm shooting for Finn or someone.

Rose is two seconds away from pushing a knife into her chest when I enter the bathroom.

"No!" I shout, and I grab the knife. The blade is facing me. We fight over it wildly. It cuts my hand three times and sends blood dripping down my arm.

Then Rose trips on the white rug and shoots forward, and then I feel something warm.

Rose lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and slowly, I look down and see the shiny jet black handle of the steak knife sticking out of…of me. It's placed right below my ribs on the right side. I feel like it's entered an organ, but I can't tell. A deep red circle is forming around the wound. My thoughts are clouded, and Rose is just sitting there screaming.

Slowly, stupidly, numbly, I reach down and pull the knife out.

I think it was a stupid idea, because then the blood starts gushing out like Niagara Falls.

I think Rose scream for help or something, and then I feel myself falling. I hit the floor, and then nothing.

PEETA'S POV

I drop the argument with Ryan about the fight he got into today because Rose is screaming something serious and Katniss isn't screaming back.

I get up and go upstairs.

"We'll continue this later." I tell Ryan. He looks annoyed.

The bathroom door is open, so I just walk in.

Katniss is on the floor with…a stab wound in her right side. Rose is standing there screaming.

"CALL AN AMBULANCE!" I shout. "What the fuck happened?"

The family comes running. I pick Katniss up and Mrs. Everdeen starts doing anything she can think of to stop the bleeding.

"I was going to end it and I had the knife and Mom and I started fighting over it and the blade was facing her and I tripped on the rug and fell forward and it went in her!"

For a second, the nasty side of my mind takes over and I think she's lying, but I know she isn't, one, because the way she's acting, and two, because she has cuts in her hand, probably from holding onto the knife.

Finnick hangs up the phone and I hear sirens.

All the kids are screaming.

"Ryan, Rose, go pack a bag for all of us. Don't dilly dally. We don't have time." I turn to Addi. "I need you to be brave for me. Take your siblings downstairs."

She looks like she's going to be sick, but she nods and leads them away.

"Mom?" Finnick asks. He's not bothering to hide the tears, unlike me. I'm trying to fake being fine, although nobody's buying it. "Is she going to die?"

Mrs. Everdeen frowns. "It's hard to tell." I can tell it hurts for her to say it.

I know the paramedics are here now, so I take Katniss downstairs as Addi answers the door.

They looked shocked, but they don't ask questions, they just put her on a gurney. "She's going to be at UCLA Medical Center." The EMT says. He doesn't wait another second; he just takes her and leaves.

I take off the shirts filled with my wife's blood and run upstairs and wash the blood off with water and wash cloth, and then I pull on a white V-neck and shout, "Kids, get ready, we're leaving!" I put on my Sperry's and grab my keys and anything I might need that Rose and Ryan forgot, and I get anything I can think of that'll keep Katniss not bored while she's in the hospital.

Although my mind wants to, I refuse to think about the possibility of Katniss _not_ waking up. I have faith in her. She's so strong.

She will live. I wash all the blood off of me and go downstairs and add the other things in the bag. I grab Katniss's phone off the table and her charger and put that in the bag, too. I add coloring books and crayons and anything to keep the kids quiet. I round my children up, and we leave, with the rest of Katniss's family following.

While we're driving, I decide it's a pretty good idea to call Jen.

I do, and she answers on the first ring. "I already heard. I'm halfway to the hospital." She hangs up.

We pull into the hospital, and the paparazzi are all over the place. I park as close to the entrance as I can.

"Do not answer any questions. I don't care what they say. You don't give them ny information, understood?"

"Yes." The kids chant.

"Yes what?"

"Yes sir."

With that, I grab the bag and get out, making the kids walk in front of me. They swarm with the annoying cameras and the bright lights.

The lady at the receptionist doesn't wait for me to ask.

"Just wait there. I don't know what they're going to do or what her condition is. I'll send her doctor when he isn't busy."

I nod. "Thank you." I lead the kids to where the lady said to wait.

I get out the coloring books and hand them to the little ones. I offer them to the older ones and they each take one.

Normally, I would be surprise, but this is different. Now they're doing it to distract themselves.

The rest of our family joins us, and Jen, and I call my parents and tell them. They spread the news, and soon enough, they're on their way out here, the hospital is swarmed with media and I don't know what's happening with my wife.

…a….

My family arrives and thy give us all hugs and rejoin the waiting. They must have gotten on one of those really expensive fast planes that can get you to where you need to be in half the time it would normally take.

"I'm hungry." Juliette says. "Daddy, I want food."

"I took that already cooked chicken from the fridge." Rose mumbles. "And I took the diaper bag, and Mom set that up. God knows what she put in there."

That's true. Katniss always puts stuff she doesn't need in bags. I get out the chicken from the little lunch box and put it on the table to feed the kids, and then I dig through the diaper bag.

I can't help but chuckle at my wife's actions. She has condoms in here, razors, diapers and wipes and baby powered and baby toys for the triplets since we're still working on potty training them. She has at least seven or eight coloring books in here and nine water bottles.

"What'd she stuff in there?" Kegan asks.

I list everything, and when I'm done, everyone is smiling, and then smiling turns to tears, and then we're silent.

Anyways, I get out the waters and give them to the kids.

Ryan voices everyone's thoughts. "It's been six hours! If she was going to die, they would at least let us say goodbye to her, right?"

"She's not going to die." I say firmly.

"If I had just died when I tried none of this would've happened."

"Don't say that!" I scold.

"Why not! It's true! It's my fault!"

"It's not your fault!"

"So you don't hate me?" she demands.

"Hate you? No! Gosh, why would I hate you? You tripped, Rosalee! It's not like you stabbed her on purpose!"

"What if Mommy hates me?" she pulls her knees to her chest.

"Your mother doesn't hate anyone except for Cato and Satan."

"And now me."

"She doesn't hate you." Ryan says. "Gosh, she knows you didn't do it on purpose."

"She's going to hate me. I know her."

I sigh. "Rose, she isn't going to hate you. Like it or not, I know her better than anyone in this room. I bet she's going to blame herself for all of this." I pause. "And I bet she's going to apologize to you as well."

"Your father is right." Finnick says. "Don't you worry."

She sighs and gives up.

The kids finish the chicken and I throw it away.

A doctor walks over to us. "You're here for Katniss." He says.

We all look at him, and we don't say a word.

"She's going to be just fine." Sighs of relief come from all around. "See, the knife, I'm assuming it was a knife, entered her right kidney. Pulling the knife out was a big mistake. Who pulled it out?"

Everyone looks at Rose. "She did."

He nods. "She shouldn't have done that. Anyways, you can live with only one spleen. She had to take out her right spleen and we had a blood donor. She's still out cold, but I think she's going to wake up soon."

We start gathering everything. "But there is a problem."

We stop and look at him. "Your spleen controls your hormones." He says. "Since she only has one, she won't be herself, not now, and probably not ever."

"What does that mean?" Johanna demands, pissed.

"Well, and I'm sorry for not sugar coating it, but either she is going to wake up really, really nice, or she's going to wake up really, really mean. And unfortunately, when I remove a kidney, most people wake up mean. You don't wait long after she wakes to find out, either. You can normally tell from the first word the person says."

"Does it mess with her memory?" Prim asks.

"No. She might be a little confused at first, but she'll remember everything." He says.

"Well where is she?" Finn asks.

"Floor four, room 1490."

We don't wait another second.


	30. Chapter 30

KATNISS'S POV

_Beep…beep…beep_

_What in the world is that noise?_

There's an insistent pain below my right rib.

Where am I? Hold old am I?

"Shhh, I think she's waking up!" Someone hisses.

It's a fight, but I manage to open my eyes, only for them to floor with water by the bright lights. I blink multiple times, until they adjust.

What is on my hand?

I stare at it. It's ugly.

Is that beeping my heart?

Why in the world is my heart so loud?

Why does it sound mechanical?

I lift my left arm and stop to inspect the bracelet.

_Katniss J. Mellark_

Mellark?

Is that my last name? Mellark?

I look at my hand and see two rings.

_I'm married?_

Someone whispers, "Remember Peeta, give her a second."

Peeta?

_Who's Peeta?_

_Wait…_

_Peeta!_

I'm married. I have eight kids. I'm famous. Rose cuts. She had a bad day at school. She tried to kill herself. I fought over the knife with her. She tripped on the rug. She fell forward. The knife went right into my right side…right below…right below my rib.

That's there the pain is coming from.

I lift up the covers and look under my hospital gown.

Who in god's name took my clothes off?

I have a bandage under my rib.

I look around the walls and then I see an outlet connected to the heart monitor.

Nobody is saying anything. As a matter of fact, they look scared.

I think about pulling the plug on the heart monitor, but decide that wouldn't be right. That's disrespectful.

I sigh and mumble, "Hi."

All of them sigh in relief and move around the room, taking seats in random places.

Rose is the only one that doesn't make herself at home. She stands there, in the doorway, looking scared, hugging herself. "Come here." I scoot over enough for her to sit down next to me. Slowly, she moves forward and sits. I take her hands in my left one. "Are you going to tell me what happened at school?"

"It doesn't matter. Mom, I stabbed you. Why do you even want to be near me?"

I smile. "You didn't stab me."

"Yes I did."

"No." I say. "The knife did."

"But-"

"If you had fallen without the knife, I wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"So?"

"So…?" I ask. "It's the knife's fault. The knife stabbed me, not you. Don't blame yourself okay?" I smile again.

"But Mom-"

"Stop arguing." I cut her off.

"Sorry…" she sighs.

She falls silent, and then Peeta gets up and take takes his seat.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel…I feel like I have just been reincarnated from Satan himself, but I'm alive."

"Do you want me to get the doctor?" he asks.

"No." I shake my head. "I'm okay. So…what happened after I passed out?"

"They removed your kidney."

"Why?" I look down.

"Because the knife went into it and it was the only way to save you."

"That was my favorite one." I mumble, and he smiles because he knows I'm kidding. "Who took my clothes off?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have anything on under the hospital gown."

He brushes my hair off of my cheek. "I don't know."

"It wasn't you?"

"No." he says.

"Is my doctor a male or female?"

"Male." He says.

"So he saw me naked when I was unconscious?" I bite my lip. "I don't like that."

"Me either." He says.

"Rose, I think you're going to rehab."

"What?" she demands. "No! Mom!"

"You tried to kill yourself. I don't want you to be sad. What happens if I come home one day and our gone? You need to go. It's not up for discussion."

Peeta nods, agreeing with me.

"Your mother is right." Peeta says. Everyone starts agreeing.

"Fine…on one condition." We say nothing. "We move to New York City."

Still, we say nothing.

That's not a bad idea…


	31. Chapter 31

I just want to go home. I've been here for five days and I still have two more to go. Peeta brought me my laptop and I've been watching Netflix with one ear bud in. He spends every second here. I said the kids have to go to school. Rose isn't. When I get out and I'm healed, we might be moving to New York. Peeta and I had a long chat about it. Our old townhouse has three rooms upstairs and four on the first floor. There are seven rooms in all.

Cody and Caden would share, and then Elizabeth and Jillian would share, and then Juliette, Rose, Ryan and Addi will have their own rooms.

New York would work better for us because we wanted a place with a body of water and a place that snows. The kids have wanted to go there for a while. Ryan would get a job at Starbucks with Jake and Kate, and instead of Rose going to rehab, she would see a counselor every day from seven at night to nine at night, and on weekends and Fridays, from five at night to nine at night. They would go to school and Juliette, Caden and Cody would go into preschool.

But still, we don't know if we're going to do it.

We're always moving, and that's why we're hesitating. Peeta and I don't mind moving, it's the kids we're worried about. I don't want to move until I'm absolutely sure the kids want to. So far, they do, and Ryan is already trying to talk Peeta and I into letting him go to a really good school with a tuition.

I snap out of my thoughts to a knock on the door. I look up and see Peeta standing there with Rose, Juliette, Cody and Caden. They come in.

"How are you feeling?" he asks.

"I want to go home."

"I know." He sighs. "Only two more days."

"Does the media know?" I ask. Both Rose and Peeta shake their heads.

"Haymitch won't tell anyone anything. You're the one that's going to tell them. There's rumors going around that your dead, and there's some saying you're in a coma. Everyone thinks you're in a coma mostly."

I exit Netflix and go to google.

I type _Is Katniss Mellark_

I don't even have to press enter. Some are mean, but I find them funny.

_Dead?_

_In a coma? _

_Pregnant? _

_A man?_

_Crazy?_

_A virgin?_

_Bi?_

"Why does it matter to them?" Rose grumbles. "How rude."

I click on _Is Katniss Mellark a man_?

I click on the first link and we read it to ourselves. It's all about a huge lie, how I went on Ellen and said I was a man

"Apparently, I have a penis guys."

We start cracking up, but I force myself to stop because it hurts.

I google _Was Katniss Mellark_

And the first thing that's there is _raped?_

I erase the sentence because I don't want to click on that, so I type _Is Katniss Mellark in a coma_ and press enter.

There are pictures of me on the gurney and Peeta and the kids entering the hospital on many different days. I yawn, and end up falling asleep.

…a…

I go home today. It's Sunday morning and the kids are at home and my family is watching them. Peeta is fretting over me and trying to help me get dressed. "I can do it alone, Peeta!"

"Please let me help you!"

I button my skinny jeans.

This morning, I woke up to Peeta and the doctor rousing me and then helping me shower. I've been discharged already and I can take a bath but I need to be very careful and someone has to be with me at all times.

I told him on the phone last night, and this is word for word, _"I want my light blue skinny jeans from Hollister, my old black Taylor Swift T-Shirt, my white panties, the ones with the lace, and I want a bra. I don't want the underwire, but I at least want a sports bra."_ I continued on by saying, _"Oh, and my white flip flops and my hairbrush. Bring my shampoo too please, and my body-wash. Oh, and __please__ don't forget my toothbrush and toothpaste."_

He listening to everything I said. Right now I'm standing in the hotel room without a shirt or bra on, but I have on my panties and jeans.

"Please let me help you." He says.

"Peeta." I sigh.

"Please?" he pleads.

"Fine." I mumble. He helps me put on my bra and my t-shirt. "Can we go now?" I make a grab for the bags but he snatches them up.

"Can you walk okay?"

"Peeta, I'm _fine_."

"You are now." He says. "I don't want you to get hurt."

I'm very annoyed, but I let him fret over me while I brush my hair. "Why don't you do it then?" I hand him my brush. He does, and he adds that to the bag.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Yes." I sigh.

"Let's go." He says.

Even though I just got surgery, I beat him to the elevator, but it completely drains me, and when we have to start walking again, he has to help me.

"I hate needing help." I mutter.

"I know you do. It's only for a little while. You'll be back to normal in a few weeks."

"Weeks." I mutter.

It takes a while, but we make it to the lobby.

"I want you to sit down right here." He helps me sit on a bench. "I'm going to get the car. Stay right here Katniss Joy, I mean it."

"Okay." I say.

"Katniss…" he sighs.

"I'll stay, I promise."

"Okay…" he kisses my cheeks and then my forehead, and then he walks out.

I watch him get swarmed by paparazzi, but he ignores them and he gets the car and moves it so it's right in front of the door.

He shuts the door and locks it and comes back inside. "I know you won't like this but you're going to have to let me carry you." He says.

"Why?"

"Because they'll mob you, I'm sure of it. They're crazy Katniss. I'm not taking any chances."

"I can do it." I insist. "If you carry me they're going to think it's much worse than it actually is. Please, I can walk. If I'm slow, you can pick me up."

He hesitates for a long time. "Alright." He says. "God, this is such a bad idea."

"I'm okay." I say. He pulls me to my feet.

"Katniss."

I walk out the door without a word and I feel his hands lock on my shoulders and the paparazzi are worse than they ever have been. I start getting really confused because the lights are bright and I actually freeze.

I start panicking. I turn around to face Peeta and he picks me up. A couple seconds later, I'm in the car. He shuts the door and goes around to the driver's side. He works his way out of the parking lot and the turns to me. "Why'd you stop?" he asks.

"I'm sorry. I got confused and the lights were bright. I didn't know what to do or where to go."

"Okay…" he says. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." I say.

…..a…

He doesn't ask when we get to the house, he just picks me up with the two bags, locks the car and carries me inside.

"Where to?" he asks.

"I don't care." I mumble, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Hi Mommy," Juliette says.

"Hi guys." I wave at everyone.

"Dad, can you take Mom to my room please? I want to ask her something." Rose pauses. "I'd have to show her though."

"Okay." He says. Rose races past us and Peeta follows her, taking me with him.

Her posters on her wall are gone, the closet is bare, and there are boxes all around the room.

"What's this?" I ask.

"I'm all packed." She smiles.

"Packed?" I repeat. "Packed for what?"

She frowns. "Well New York, of course!"

Oh gosh. "Oh." I say. I look at Peeta. "I'm tired."

"Okay." He says. He takes me to our room and shuts the door. I take off all of my clothes. "I want to bathe. I don't want to touch anything until I don't smell like a hospital."

He nods and helps me into the bathroom. He hands me a towel. "I don't know what to do. I'm going to go get your Mom." He says.

"Okay." I say. He walks away. He comes back with Mom. She helps me bathe, and Peeta stays in here so he can help me out of the tub.

Mom and Peeta are talking. I start falling asleep. I must actually drift off, because I slip underwater on accident and some shooting back up.

"Okay, it's time for you to get out." Peeta says.

"No, I'm okay."

"Katniss, you're falling asleep." Mom argues.

"Fine." I say. I struggle to get out, and Peeta helps me and I dry myself and let Mom tend to the wound, and then I put on normal panties and one of Peeta's shirts. Peeta helps me get into bed, and after a couple minutes of Mom asking me questions, she leaves. "When everyone laves, we need to talk to the kids about New York." I say, and Peeta nods, agreeing.


	32. Chapter 32

Ryan comes barging into Peeta and I's room. "Rose says we might not be going to New York. Why not?"

"We don't know." Peeta says. "We are going to talk to you guys when everyone is gone." He says. "Be patient."

"But I want to go to New York now!" He shouts at Peeta.

"Knock it off!" Peeta shouts back. Ryan looks shocked, and he takes a step back. "Sorry."

"You don't talk to me that way, or your Mother, or anyone else. When your told no, that's the answer. Stop being rude. We will talk about it later and that's final."

"Yes sir. Sorry."

"It's fine." Peeta says. Ryan walks out.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing, I am simply done with the kids only listening to you. If that's the way I have to do it, then so be it."

"Okay." I mumble. I look at the window and then throw the covers off of me and stand up.

"What are you doing?" He scrambles across the bed to move in front of me.

"I want to go downstairs." I mumble. He gets me my basketball shorts. "You don't want everyone to see you in your underwear."

"You don't want everyone to, actually." I correct. "I don't really care."

"Even Justice and Kegan?" He asks.

"Fine." I mumble. I try to put them on alone, but it hurts me side and then I start crying because I'm frustrated and my hormones are whacked up forever. Gently, he takes the shorts from my hands and opens them up. I put my hands on my biceps, still crying, and step into them. He pulls them up for me and then wipes away my tears.

"I know it's hard. I know you like doing stuff on your own, but sometimes you need to let people help you. Don't cry. It's only for a little while."

"I hate the idea that I can't take care of myself or protect myself."

"What do you need to protect yourself from?"

"People."

"People being a past boyfriend with blond hair and blue eyes?" He asks.

I look down. "Honey, Cato isn't coming back."

"Yes he is. I feel like he's going to come back. I can feel it."

"I'll protect you." He promises. "He won't come near you."

"Where's my bow?" I ask.

"I don't know. You put it somewhere when we moved in." He caresses my cheek.

"I don't remember." I whisper.

"We'll find it." He promises. "Let's go downstairs." He says. He helps me walk to the door.

"Oh, my phone."

He gets it and comes back, and slowly, he helps me to the stairs.

When I get to the top, he picks me up and very slowly, he carries me down the stairs. He puts me down at the bottom and helps me walk to the couch. Elizabeth and Jillian move to the floor and Peeta and I take the seats they were in.

"How are you?" Mrs. Mellark asks.

I shrug. "I'm okay."

They're watching The Parent Trap, the Lindsey Lohan version. It's right at the beginning, too.

Caden climbs into my lap and rests against me.

"Caden don't-" Peeta begins.

"He's fine." I cut him off.

Caden turns in my lap to face me, and he kisses my cheek, and then he puts his head right on my boob, right over my heart. I watch him stick his thumb in his mouth and fall asleep.

I run my fingers along his hair. Juliette and Cody climb into Peeta's lap and they fall asleep, too.

...8...

The doctor gave me the okay to go back to my normal life but not to go too crazy.

The family went home. The first thing I did was take a shower with the door locked. I got out and got dressed and went downstairs and started cleaning like crazy.

"He said not to go crazy." Peeta says.

"He can't control me." I reply.

"Katniss." He says.

"Peeta." I reply.

He sighs. "Your going to get hurt."

"I'm fine!"

"Mom." Rose says. "Your going to get hurt."

"I'm fine." I say.

"We need to talk to the kids about that thing." Peeta says. They already got back from school.

"That thing?" I ask. "Oh yeah." I say.

"About what thing?" Ryan asks. I finish cleaning and out everything away.

"Moving."

They all stop what they're doing.

"What about it?" Addi asks. "I hate LA. I want to move to New York."

All the kids start complaining about how they hate New York and want to move to LA.

I look at Peeta and sigh. He sighs back.

"Why can't we go!" Ryan shouts.

"We never said we weren't going!" I shout back.

"So we are going?" Addi asks.

"We don't know." Peeta says. "If we do, that means your mother will have to start traveling again."

The cameras aren't here.

"Well...not necessarily..." I bite my lip. Everyone looks at me. "I hate to say it but we make plenty of money with the show. I only would need to travel for interviews. And...well, Good Morning America is there. Plus, I can probably get a record deal at that place I used to work."

Peeta and I start having a silent conversation with our eyes.

Finally, he sighs. "Alright. Fine. We leave in a week."

The kids start cheering. I smile because when my babies are happy, so am I.


	33. Chapter 33

We leave tomorrow morning. I'm driving my escalade and Peeta's driving Ryan's car. The younger kids are going with him and the older kids are going with me.

All of us are running around making sure we have everything, and then someone rings the doorbell.

"I got it!" I shout. I put the box in my hands down on the coffee table and walk over to the front door and pull it open. Nobody's there.

I frown and look around. It's pouring rain today. The front porch is soaked.

I hear a whimper at my feet and then I blurt, "What the fuck!" loudly.

"What is it?" Rose demands.

There's a baby boy lying in a diaper soaking wet, screaming. His eyes are a clear crystal blue and he has blond hair.

"What in the world?" Rose says. I pick up the baby. There's a note stuck to the kids diaper. It's laminated, so it didn't get ruined. I pick up the small child.

"DAD!" Rose screams. "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!"

I look around outside, all around. Rose even goes and searches the neighbors yards.

Nobody's there.

So, we take the baby inside and I shut the door.

"Peeta!" I shout. He comes downstairs and stops short and drops the box in his hands.

"What the hell?"

All the other kids come downstairs too. I grab a blanket from a box next to me and wrap up the baby, and then I take the note off the kids diaper.

"Read it out loud." Peeta says.

"I know you don't know me," I begin. "But I know you and Peeta are kid crazy. I'm a huge fan, and my wife died giving birth to him. I trust you and Peeta to be my son's parents. I don't like him and I don't want him. His name is William James. He is one month old today. His birthday is August 12th he was six pounds and seven ounces. Please take care of him. I'm trusting you."

I look down at the wailing child and then at my husband.

"There's something on the back." Addi says.

I flip it over. "P.S. he hasn't eaten in two days and I haven't bathed him. Also, when I change his diaper I just take off the old one and put on a new one."

"He hasn't even eaten?" Peeta demands. "What a sick person. Do we have any formula?"

"No." I shake my head. "Gosh, what a terrible person. This _boy_ needs to be ashamed of being a human being."

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes." Peeta says.

"Are we keeping him?" I ask.

Peeta looks at me and right away, he starts scratching the back of his neck.

I raise my eyebrows.

"We can put Juliette in Elizabeth and Jillian's room…" he mumbles.

That's a yes.

I look down at the baby. He's so cute and innocent and tiny and hungry and needy. "Go and get him some formula please." I say.

"Okay." He walks out.

I go right over to the box labeled _old baby clothes_ and start digging through it with one arm. Rose comes over and takes William from my arms, I get some diapers we have left over that are his size, an then I get a black onesie that says _The cool kid just showed up_. I take him to the kitchen and start the sink with the water on warm. Addi gets the baby powder and the wipes and the butt cream and the baby shampoo and a soft washcloth.

I prepare myself for the worst as I take off the diaper.

There are little blisters all over the place.

Rose starts crying and so does Addi, and I hold it in and shake my head angrily.

"He'll be okay." I say. I put Will under the water and he starts screaming.

"What's wrong?" Addi demands.

"He doesn't like the water. He's fine." I say. I wash him quickly, being very careful with his diaper area. I take the towel Rose hands me, and, instead of putting his clothes on, I leave them off and cover him with the towel.

He's hungry, and now he has to wait.

I rock him around and he just screams the whole time.

Peeta comes rushing in, and he brushes right past me to the kitchen. I hear the water start and then the microwave, and then a minute later he comes back with a bottle. He holds out his arms and I hand him Will. His screams silence right when Peeta puts the bottle in his mouth.

"Can someone clarify if we're keeping him or not?" Rose asks. "We have a huge family already."

"Yeah um…" Ryan trails off.

They're right.

I look down at the tile floor. Peeta sighs. "Your right." He says. I look at him. "I mean…I want to but it's really not a good idea. He's still really young and we're moving and it just doesn't seem very smart." He pauses. "And we don't want to make Jillian, Elizabeth and Juliette share a room."

"I don't want to just…just put him up for adoption. He could grow up in a foster home. The thought of that makes me upset."

"Let's see if someone we know wants a baby."

I'm silent for a couple minutes, and then I say, "I think I know who."


	34. Chapter 34

"Well I want to come!" Finn says. "You know we always stay together!"

I'm on the phone with Finn. "I know I just…we're always moving…I didn't want to tell you because you would want to come. I don't want to make you come."

"I want to come! I love New York City! So does Annie!"

Johanna shouts something in the background, and so does Blight and Annie.

"We're moving." He says.

"Finn…"

"Fuck off Kitty."

"Can I get to the point of why I'm calling?"

"No. I'm coming over."

"Finnick Bryan!" I snap.

"_What_ _Katniss Joy_?"

"Someone left a fucking baby on our doorstep today."

"What the fuck?" he says. "I'm coming over and everyone's coming with me."

He hangs up before I can say anything.

…..a…..

"So they just…left the kid?" Jen asks.

"Basically."

I called her when I got off the phone with Finn and she came over. She's the person I had in mind for wanting a baby.

"This doesn't seem…sane." Rye says.

"Agreed." Peeta says.

"So are you keeping him?" Mom asks.

"No." I shake my head.

Jen is quiet for a while, and then she takes him from my arms and mutters something.

"What?" I ask.

"I said I'm not getting any younger." She hesitates. "I'm calling Josh." Josh Hutcherson, her fiancé. When I went and stayed with her when Peeta and I were fighting, he was in England for a movie. He's back now.

I hear him say something on the other line.

"I want to adopt a baby." She says. She listens for a second. "So? I'm twenty eight. I'm not getting any younger and neither are you. I don't want to be seventy when my kid is twenty." She pauses. "I told you not until marriage." She listens again. "He's a month old." She stops. "Katniss's…" she sighs. "Some douche left a kid on her doorstep and she already has eight kids. She can't take another. Please?" she hangs up. "I'm taking him."

"Jen…" I bite my lip.

"What?"

"Babies aren't all…easy."

"Fucking you Katniss, I know that." She laughs. "Can I take him?"

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" I ask.

"Yes. I'm _fine_!" she laughs.

**Another plot twist next chapter that will make you want to kill me! **

**You've been warned *laughs evilly***


	35. Chapter 35

I've been sobbing into my hands for a long time, starting yesterday, locked in the sunroom with Peeta's hand slipped under my shirt, rubbing my back. The kids don't bother us. Right now though, my tears have run out, and now I'm just whimpering like a hurt puppy.

We've been in New York for about a month now, and it's supposed to start snowing soon since it's mid-November so we were watching the news yesterday morning.

The entire world knows I was raped by Cato Harris.

And Cato Harris broke out of jail.

Again.

And the last place he was spotted was New York City.

"Shh…" Peeta whispers for the umpteenth time. "You're safe. He won't hurt you, or the kids. Your safe baby, you're safe."

"OPEN THE DOOR!" Annie shouts from our bedroom. "It's Finnick! He's gone!"

I stop whimpering and rip open the door. I can hear the kids talking downstairs and Ben is here. Annie's on the brink of tears. "He didn't come home from work last night! I even asked Jake and Kate if they'd seen him and they said no, but is car is still parked outside of Starbucks! He's gone!"

Someone took him. I feel like I've been punched in the stomach.

"I already called the police. He's been reported a missing person."

"UNCLE FINNICK IS ON THE NEWS!" Rose screams.

All of us go bounding downstairs.

"_Breaking news! Finnick Odair, Katniss Mellark's brother has gone missing."_

It shows a picture of Finnick on the screen. _"If anyone sees him, call the New York Police Department immediately."_

"All over on Twitter there's stuff about this." Ryan says. We let Rose and Ryan get Twitter. "There's hashtag Pray For Katniss and hashtag Find Finnick and all this stuff."

Great. "In the course of two days, Cato's back and Finn's gone. What a fucking great week."

I turn around and go back upstairs.

Somethin about this isn't right, and I'm not sleeping until I piece two and two together.

…..a…

Prim called. I'm on the phone with her now. I haven't slept and neither has she, because Finn's just as much her brother as he is mine.

Mom and Dad are actually going to legally adopt him. You can legally adopt an adult. All they need is his signature.

"I think he'll be okay." Prim whispers. "Finnick's strong. I just want to know what Cato's up to."

"What do you think he wants?" I whisper. I'm in the kitchen and the only like is coming from the refrigerator light and the outside lights.

"I think he's after you." Prim whisper. "And whatever he wants, he'll do whatever it takes to break you to get it."

I start crying very quietly.

"Katniss…" she whispers.

"I'm scared." I whisper. "God Prim, I'm so scared. I'm scared for me and for the kids and Peeta and Finn. What if whoever got him killed him?" I sniff.

"Don't lost hope. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. If you don't have hope, you don't have anything. You are the smartest person I know. Don't give up. If you give up, we all give up."


	36. Chapter 36

It's been one month. Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is a week and a half away. Both sides of the family are here. With everyone here, dressed up in warm clothes, all happy, it just feels wrong.

It feels so wrong that they're happy.

They're happy when Finn's not here.

It's late, and I'm sitting in the kitchen again.

And I get to thinking.

"_What do you think he wants?" I whisper. _

"_I think he's after you." Prim whispers. "And whatever he wants, he'll do whatever it takes to break you to get it."_

_He'll do whatever it takes to break you…_

I remember, way back when we were dating, before Cato raped me…

"_So what's up with you and Finnick Odair?" he asks, slinging his arm around my shoulder. _

"_We're just friends Cato." _

"_More like siblings." _

_I laugh. "Yeah. He's my rock. I would do anything for him." _

"_What would you do without him?" he stops walking._

_I turn to him and think about it for a while._

"_I would break."_

The glass in my hand falls to the floor.

"Oh my god…" I whisper.

I was too busy drowning in my own self-pity to see the facts. I was too busy to see that Cato has Finnick.

I grab my black hoodie off of the back of the dining room chair and pull it on over my tank top. I tie but my boots as people start waking up, and I run downstairs, past the kids bedrooms to the laundry room. I get my bow and arrow, and I run through the house. I can hear tired voices upstairs and someone, Peeta, starts coming downstairs. I snatch my wallet up off the table.

I bolt. I run out the front door, down the street, shoving people out of the way. I probably scare them, because I'm armed.

"Excuse me!" I push someone. "Sorry, coming through!" I swerve around children and elders and some people that scream my name. I put my wallet in the pocket of my hoodie, put my bow across my chest and my arrows over my shoulder and keep running. I run into Time Square and duck into an old abandoned shop and lean against the wall, gasping.

Where to go…

Where would I take someone to break them?

I would take them somewhere that they know the person they are trying to break will be found…

Where would I go…

I would say Kentucky, but something tells me no.

I'm not doing myself any favors by not having any sleep.

I go to the back of the shop, lay down on the old unfished floor and drift off to sleep.

…a…

The first word that comes to my mind when I wake up is _Subway_.

I peek out the window to see a screen on a building with my face on it next to Finnicks with a huge red title saying _MISSING!_

If I leave this shop and get spotted by anyone, they're going to call the cops because I'm now a missing person.

But…why should I care? I don't have anything to lose. My brother could be dead because of the person I hate the most.

I think real hard.

What about Subway? The food or the actual Subway?

I'm not hungry. As a matter of fct, I think I'm going to be sick.

There must be an old abandoned Subway…

No.

I shake the thought from my head. He isn't going to stay in New York City. There's not a chance.

He might stay in New York though…

I start getting another memory.

"_When you get older, where do you want to go?" Cato asks. _

"_Um…" I smile a little. "I've always wanted to go to Clinton."_

Clinton, New York.

I can't get a Taxi because I'll get taken to the police station. I can't go home, not now. If I do, I'll be spotted and then my family is going to skin me alive.

I guess the time on the Track Team in high school is about to pay off.

I rip open the door and immediately, I'm spotted. Someone screams "There she is, there's Katniss!" and then everyone in hearing range follows her finger.

People all start whipping out their phones. I bolt down the street, and they follow me.

It's going to take a day for me to get there.

So I run. I run as fast as I possibly can. I hear sirens and I see buildings with me on them running.

God dammit, I'm really going to get it when I get home.

…a…

I stop and get food, store up on energy and go again. It's snowing. I've been going for a while and I dip into an old shop for the night again.

…..a…..

The next morning, I start again, and I enter Clinton around noon.

If he isn't here, I'll call Peeta and risk an argument.

I walk around the city for a while, and I see an old motel and something tells me to go check. I walk in. there's nobody behind the counter so I go and search the files. I'm going to get in so much legal trouble if I'm caught.

_Harris. C Anthony_

I bet that C stands for Cato.

Floor two, room 28.

I clear the history and close the page, and then I take the elevator upstairs and get ready to shoot.

I walk to floor 28.

I press my ear to the door and listen.

"Tell me where I can find her and you can go home to your wife and kid!" Cato says.

"Never!" Finn says. He sounds so weak.

"You asked for it."

"No! Please!" Finn says. He cries out in agony, and I shoot the handle, rip the arrow out of the doorknob and walk into the room.

"Get down on the fucking ground!" I say.

Cato whips around and grins.

"Katniss, darling, how wonderful of you to join us." He smiles.

"Kitty, no, you need to leave." Finn starts crying.

I ignore him. He's hurt very badly and has multiple broken bones.

I pick up the hotel phone and dial the police.

"You're a motherfucking asshole, you know that?" I ask Cato as I rip the sheets off of the bed and shoot him in the arm. He screams, and then I tie him to the bed.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Yeah, this is Katniss Mellark. I found Finnick and I've got Cato, too." I hang up and toss the phone on the floor. When I'm sure Cato isn't going anywhere, I help Finn up.

"We need to go." I say. "If they come and they get us I'm going to be in a shitload of trouble because I can't prove I have a weapon permit."

"I don't know if I can walk." He says. I hand him my bow and arrows.

"Get on my back. I'll be fine."

He does, and he's lost so much weigh that it's like I'm carrying Elizabeth, bot Finn.

I run out the door and down the street, ducking behind a building when the cops whiz past.

When I'm sure they're gone, I start out again.

…..a…

"Are you seriously going to carry me, all broken, through New York City?" he mumbles.

"Yes."

"Kitty this is a terrible idea."

"Well I only have a credit card so I can't call Peeta. I know you don't have any change on you."

"You amaze me." he says.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll walk along the Hudson and we can just walk in through the backdoor."

"Please." He says, burying his face in my shoulder.

I take a back road and walk until we hit the river.

The people we do pass shriek. I say hi to them, and before I know it, Finn is cracking up and groaning in pain at the same time.

We walk along the river, and I stop outside my back gate and put him down. "Finn." I whisper.

"Yeah?" he asks.

"I um…I didn't tell you but…I really love you. We need to hang out more. I've been so busy I didn't even realize how much I miss you." I hug him. He hugs me back.

"I love you, Kitty."

"I love you too, Finn."

"Are you ready to face our spouses?"

"Hell yeah." I put him back on my back and carry him in the house. I put my bow back where it belongs and I walk in from the laundry room.

Slowly, I creep upstairs and walk into the living room. I set Finn down on the couch. Everyone just stares at us.

It's clear Finn's in a shitload of pain.

Annie reacts first, but bursting into tears, hugging me and thanking me over and over again and then kissing Finn and asking him multiple questions so fast that he can't understand.

Then Peeta. "God dammit Katniss Joy." He says.

"What?" I ask.

He just shakes his head and pulls me into a hug tight enough to kill me. "You had me sick with worry."

"Literally," Rye adds, and then he shoves Peeta and hugs me. Mom gets up and starts tending to Finn. She gives him painkillers and washes his legs and everything and then puts him in a cast. How she had the stuff to do it is beyond me.

I go upstairs and get in the shower.

"Mom." Rose walks right in.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"I thought Cato killed you."

I rip the curtain back. "You what?"

"I thought Cato killed you. We all did. I mean…I know you were spotted armed in Times Square but that was four days ago. I thought he killed you."

"Honey…" I bite my lip and go back into the curtain. "You don't need to worry about that."

"Yes I do." She says. I start washing my hair with my coconut shampoo. Addi comes in.

"We thought you were dead." She says.

Jo comes in, and then Elizabeth, Jillian, Juliette, and Jen, who must have flown in when I went missing. They all say the same thing, that they thought Cato killed me. I wash my body and Prim comes in, and then every single girl in the house is standing in the bathroom while I'm taking a shower, even Annie.

"I would've died for Finn if it came down to it." I say.

"Which is why we thought you were dead! Peeta did too! He was seriously sick with worry. He threw up every ten minutes or so." Mrs. Mellark. I shut the water off and Aunt Portia hands me a towel. I wrap myself up and step out.

"Yeah, well, I shot Cato." I walk into Peeta and I's room and he's in there, getting clothes for Finn, I presume.

"You shot him?" Mom asks.

"Yeah."

"Is he…dead?" Addi asks.

"No, I shot him in the arm and tied him to the bed by some sheets and called the cops and left."

"You know you aren't going to get in any legal trouble, right?" Peeta asks.

"I know. I just ran because I didn't have any proof I could own my bow." I say.

He nods. I get out a white sports bra and a pair of sweatpants, and white panties.

Not caring, I drop my towel in front of everyone and get dressed.

I towel dry my hair and go into the bathroom to hang my towel up.

"You know we thought you were dead." Peeta whispers.

"I know, but I'm not." I say.

He looks like he's going to be sick, and then he goes into the bathroom and shuts the door.

"I still think he has the stomach flu." Mom says.

I follow him into the bathroom, and I hear everyone leave our room. I rub his back as the throws up, and then I stand off to the side as he washes his mouth out and brushes his teeth. His wet hands hold onto the edge of the counter when he's done, and he stares at the drain.

He starts shaking his head, and he looks so frustrated and upset. "You just don't understand." He says.

"Understand what?"

"What it's like to hear something shatter and come downstairs to find your wife is gone. It just…it's not okay. That is _not_ okay. I get that you were going after your brother and all that, but…but you just left and I didn't know where you went. I thought you were dead! Think about not knowing where I am and thinking I was dead!"

"I'm sorry." I whisper.

"You don't understand."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"And your Mom thinks I have the stomach flu, but I don't I just…fuck Katniss." He hits the counter and then his grip tightens. "I'm literally sick with worry."

"Peeta…" I whisper.

He hits the counter again, and whips around, hooks his right arm tightly around my waist and smashes his lips against mine, locking both doors to get into the bathroom with his left hand and then he starts to palm my breast. His breath is minty and delicious. He moves forwards and I move back until I'm pushed against the door. "I fucking love you, okay?" he whispers between frantic kisses.

"I love you too." I moan softly. His hands on me disappear and I hear his jeans hit the floor.

"Can I fuck you?" he whispers, beginning to suck on my shoulder.

"Please." I moan softly again. He pulls away and strips naked, and then he strips me.

"I love you." He whispers. His left hand goes back to my breast.

"I love you too." His touch becomes gentler.

…..a…..

"So…" Finn says. "I think we all deserve to know how you found me."

I shrug. "Prim said Cato wanted me and he was going to do whatever it takes to break me."

"So…?" he trails off.

"Back before we…broke up…he was all suspicious about me and you and he was asking me stuff and I told him that I couldn't live without you. I knew right then and there that he had you. That's when I left. I slept in some old abandoned shop for the night and then I remembered telling Cato I wanted to go to Clinton." I shrug.

Peeta won't let go of me. He's had me in his lap and his head is hidden in my shoulder. I think he's asleep, but I can't tell.

"What about you?" I ask.

He cringes. "He kept trying to get me to tell him where you are. I refused and well…he was breaking every bone in my body. He broke everything from the wrist down."

"Even your…_genital_ areas?"

"There's not a bone in my penis, Katniss."

"What do you mean there's not a bone."

"It's just cartage, honey." Peeta whispers.

"What? Is it really?"

"Yes." He laughs. "Although it can still be broken."

"That's weird."

His grip on me tightens. "I know." He sighs.

I stretch and yawn. "I'm going to bed."

"Why?" Ryan demands.

"Honey, I haven't slept in two days." I say.

"I'm going to bed too." Peeta says. It's nine at night and I am exhausted.

I pause. "So are you five." I point to the little ones. The triplets are already out cold, but Elizabeth and Jillian are wide awake. I pick up Juliette off the floor and Peeta gets Caden and Cody and we go upstairs and put them in bed, and then I go downstairs and bring Jillian and Elizabeth to bed.

I say goodnight to everyone, and then I go upstairs and strip down to my underwear as I walk, and I toss my clothes in the hamper and crawl into bed. Peeta shuts the door, takes off everything but his boxers, hands me his shirt and crawls into bed next to me. I sit up and pull his shirt over my head, and then I lay down and let him pull me close.

"I love you." He whispers.

"I love you too."

**Don't expect another chapter tonight, because it's 1:10 am here and I'm going to bed.**


	37. Chapter 37

Finn got a wheelchair and he can't push it because he got his hands broken so he's miserable because nobody will let him out of the house.

I can tell by the look on his face that Annie and everyone is driving him crazy.

Christmas is in two days. I kiss Peeta awake at six in the morning. "I'm going out with Finnick to get him out of the house." I whisper.

"Okay." He kisses me again. "I love you."

"I love you too." I go into the bathroom and shower and put in a tampon because I started my stupid period. I get dressed in a pair of light skinny blue jeans, a white long sleeve shirt and my black trench coat, the same one I wore when Peeta and I first met. I put on my boots and go downstairs and rouse Finn.

"What?" He sounds irritated.

"I'm gonna get you out of here." I whisper.

He looks at me and nods. I help him dress and then I bring him and his wheelchair downstairs and out the front door, grabbing my purse on the way.

The sun is up now. I have my phone and my purse and wallet and everything.

I walk, pushing him. He's silent for a long time, looking around at people. Everyone gives us looks of pity.

"Can we go to Central Park?" He asks. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure." I take a left and head to Central Park.

I walk quietly.

"Let's go fast." He says.

"What?"

"Run."

"Okay."

I run down the snow covered path. People are ice skating on the lake, so I stop in front of it and turn Finn towards me.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I'm about two seconds away from divorcing Annie."

"What? Why?" I sit down in front of him.

"I don't know, she's just so annoying and clingy and irritating. I am so annoyed with her."

"But you love her?"

"Yeah I love her but I want to take Ben and leave."

"Finn..." I sigh. "Don't do it."

"Why not?"

"You love her." I say simply. "She may be annoying and clingy but you love her and she loves you. If you end it you'll be making a huge mistake. Trust me, I know, I have experience. It's miserable Finn. Don't do it. I'm serious."

"Well how do I tell her that she is annoying as fuck? I don't want to see the look on her face..."

"Do you want me to tell her?" I ask.

"That would be amazing." He says.

"Let's get breakfast and then go home."

"Okay."

"To Starbucks it is." I say, and he laughs.

...8...

I make sure to slam the front door to announce our arrival.

"I'm gonna kill her! She didn't even tell me!" Annie says. Finn groans under her breath.

"Annie just back off." Peeta says.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Annie snaps.

"Then don't go after my wife. She's doing your husband a favor because you just keep him cooped up when he wants to get out. Ether you treat her with respect or you can get the hell out of my house."

"Damn Dad!" Ryan says. "Way to go!"

I wheel Finn, still in the wheelchair upstairs.

"Listen bitch," Annie starts.

"Annie shut up." Finnick says.

"This is your fault!" Annie snaps at me.

"What's my fault?" I ask, raising my eyebrows and crossing my arms.

"Auntie Annie, don't make Mommy mad." Jillian whispers.

"It's your fault that Cato took him and did this to him!"

"How the hell is it my fault?" I ask.

"Because you let Cato rape you! It's your fault Cato raped you! Since you let him all of this shit happened to my husband!"

Everyone starts yelling at her.

"It's my fault?" I repeat.

"Yes! Your a cold hearted bitch for letting Cato do this to him!"

I punch her in the face and then screaming increases, and then she punches me back and the next thing I know, we're on the floor and I'm on top of her and we're beating the shit out of each other.

"You fucking bitch! You think it's my fault? You think I liked it? You think I let him do it? You fucking bitch! Do you think I knew he was going to do that?"

"Get off me!" She screams.

Peeta hooks his finger in the belt loop of my jeans and rips me off of her. He isn't even mad I was fighting her.

"Annie, you need to back off. Fuck you for saying it's Katniss's fault all of this happened. She's my fucking sister. Don't treat her like shit."

"She just beat the shit out of me and you're going to let it happen?" Annie demands.

Finn looks from me to Annie.

"Yes."

"Fine, let's get a divorce then!" She snaps. Then, she bursts into tears and runs out the door.

…..a…

I hate waking up so thirsty that I can't go back to sleep but so tired that I don't want to get up.

I sigh into Peeta chest and gently push my way out of his arms.

"Where are you going?" he mumbles, forcing his eyes open. Of course he woke up. He always wakes up when I move.

I kiss his cheek. "I'm going to get a drink."

"Downstairs?" he asks. "You're staying in the house?" he sits up.

"Yes. I'm just going to get some water from the kitchen."

He yawns, stretches, and kisses my forehead and then nods. "Okay." He lays down and falls back to sleep. I get up and go downstairs. I flick on the light and hear someone sigh in the living room. I get my glass of water and walk out there. Finn sits awake. He's on the blow up mattress, staring at the flames in the fireplace. Elizabeth is sleeping on the floor.

"What are you doing?" I whisper.

He jumps and looks at me. "I can't sleep."

I finish my water, refill it, and hand him the glass, and then I pick up Elizabeth. She lifts her head up, looks at me with her tired eyes, and then she goes back to sleep with her head on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" I sit down on the floor.

Slowly, he shakes his head. "No. I don't want to divorce Annie. I love her. I'm scared she already filed for divorce."

I start rubbing Elizabeth's back.

"I don't think she did." I whisper.

"I'm so scared. I don't want to lose her. God, what have I done?" he looks at Ben and sighs.

"It's not too late. It's never too late." I whisper.

"Well what am I going to do?" he whisper shouts. "I can' exactly go after her!"

"I'll get her to come over tomorrow and you can talk it out in the sunroom where nobody will bother you. Just be reasonable and level headed and everything will be fine."

"Fine. He better apologize to you."

"I need to apologize too, Finnick. I'm not exactly innocent."

"I beg to differ." Johanna mutters. "If you didn't punch her, I would have."

I laugh. "I'm going to bed. Love you guys."

"Love you too." They say together.

I get up and shift Elizabeth. I go downstairs and put Elizabeth in her bed, and I check on Jillian, Ryan, Addi and Rose, and then I go upstairs, check on Juliette, Caden, and Cody and then I go into Peeta and I's bedroom and crawl into bed next to him. He wakes up right away and opens his arms. I lay down in them and drift off again.

…..a…..

I wake up to the doorbell ringing. I throw the covers off of me, change into a long sleeve shirt and bra and jeans, and I go downstairs, braiding my hair.

"Is Katniss Mellark here? I need to speak with her and her family and anyone associated with her."

"Yeah, come on in." Johanna says. I tie off my braid.

She comes upstairs with a police officer and rouses everyone, my children and husband included. Everyone comes into the living room looking grumpy, but concern replaces their faces.

All the little ones start crying though.

"Your not in any kind of trouble." He says to me. Everyone sighs in relief. He looks at Finnick. "How are you doing?"

He shrugs. "I'm great."

Annie's is here, I notice, and she has her hand on Finn's arm.

She probably came here and they made up.

"But…" he sighs. "Cato got away."

"How did he get away!" I blurt angrily.

"Katniss." Peeta whispers. I bite my lip.

"That's a good question. Unfortunately, we don't have an answer. We do know, however, that he is back in the city. We also know you shot him in the arm, but he went to a doctor for it. We have searches everywhere in the entire state of New York that he could have possibly gone to and nobody has seen him, not even at pharmacies. My guess, is he's after you now, or one of your kids, or Peeta. Possibly Prim, or maybe even Jennifer. Actually, I think he's going for Elizabeth. Simply because she is your first biological daughter."

Nobody says anything for a long time. He is _not_ getting Johanna. "If he comes I'm going to kill him." I say firmly, and I cross my arms. He sizes me up. "I don't care if I get locked up for life. He's put me and my family through hell. No matter what the jails and prisons try to do, he can't be contained."

"Oh, I agree with you." He says. "While nobody deserves to die, some people earn it, and he has _definitely_ earned it." He sighs. "Well, I must go. It is Christmas Eve, after all."

He walks out.

"I'm scared." Rose says.

I rock back and forth. "I hope he comes."

"What?" Rose asks.

"I think it's time he gets a taste of his own medicine."

**I'm skipping Christmas.**


	38. Chapter 38

I'm so paranoid that it's sickening. It's December 26th, at six at night. I'm to the point where I just want to go out and find him and kill him.

When I hear the front door slam, I realize something isn't right.

Everyone is here in the living room.

I jump up and have my bow in my hand in half a second.

Nobody moves. The kids are crying.

Who else would be coming in the house? Nobody. Even Jake an Kate are here, and Josh and Gale, who I haven't seen in years, and his family.

So that's how I know that he's here.

Johanna has her axe, and she's swinging it around, waiting, poised.

She knows, and I know, and we all know, that when it comes down to it, I'm going to freeze up and I won't be ale to kill him.

That's when Johanna is going to come in and throw her axe.

Cato comes strolling into the living room. "Shut the TV off." He says. "Let's have a little talk." He looks at me and winks.

"Fuck off." I say.

He laughs. "No. unless I'd be fucking you. But…I've already done that, have I?" he snickers. "Now, shut the TV off."

Ryan does it. He looks pissed beyond words.

He looks around the room and his eyes rest right on Elizabeth. She pulls her knees against her chest.

He starts walking towards her and I move right in front of him. "Touch her and I swear I'll kill you."

"You won't do it." He says.

Peeta…god, he looks like he's going to kill Cato himself. He looks so pissed, more pissed than I've ever seen him, and I thought I'd seen him pissed…but this is…this is different.

He looks at my chest and smiles. "You are still so beautiful. If you had just given me what I wanted when I asked for it, none of this would have happened and you would still be with me."

"She doesn't want you." Peeta stands up. "Your such a dumbass for thinking she wants anything to do with you."

"Fuck off, boy."

"Get away from her." Peeta threatens.

Cato draws a gun and points it right at him while looking at me.

"Put that down or I'll kill him." He says.

I look at my bow, and then I drop it.

He looks at Peeta.

"Any last words?" he asks.

He can't move because Cato's focus is on him.

His focus is on him…

I kick him in the stomach and send him flying backwards. The gun goes off and hits a photo on the wall, which shatters, and then I tackle him and grab hold on the gun. He keeps pulling the trigger and Finn starts telling everyone to get down on the ground.

Only…only Rose doesn't listen.

I fight over the gun for a long time, trying as hard as I can to get it, but he's too strong, and I'm losing.

Before I know it, I'm pinned to the floor and the gun is on my forehead. Annie's on the phone with the police and I shut my eyes, waiting for him to kill me.

But…Rose slowly creeps forward and kicks him right in between the legs, hard.

The gun slips off of my forehead and falls from his hand.

He screams in agony and I push him off of me, grab the gun and toss it to Peeta, and then I shoot across the floor and grab my bow. The kids are screaming.

"Ryan, take your cousins and siblings up to the sunroom and do _not_ come down until you are told to do so." Peeta says.

"Okay." He says, ushering the sobbing little kids upstairs. Elizabeth is crying the hardest. She is the most frightened because she knows that Cato came here to get her.

"What should we do with him?" Finn asks.

"I don't…I don't want…"

I don't want to take someone's life. I hear sirens blaring and look out the open window. Paparazzi are all over the place and so are police officers.

If we don't kill him he'll break out of jail and it'll just be worse.

We all stall, and then I hear the air whizzing, and then Johanna's axe embeds itself in Cato's chest, and just like that, he's dead.

I hear footsteps on the stairs and I can hear Elizabeth upstairs, scream sobbing and I can hear the other kids up there calming her down but I know it isn't working.

The cop that came over a few days ago is here and they put Cato in a body bag.

"Let's go outside." The cop suggests.

They take Cato out and I run upstairs and take Elizabeth.

"Stay in here." I tell everyone else, and then I leave with Elizabeth soaking the front of my shirt.

I go downstairs and stop in Elizabeth and Jillian's room and get her baby blanket. I cover her up to keep her warm, and I go put on my boots and go outside. The paparazzi are all over the place, but they don't swarm.

We all tell the police officers what happened, and I rub Elizabeth's back and kiss her forehead, trying to calm her down.

"I w-w-want Daddy." She whimpers. I touch Peeta's arm. He's still livid, but I hand her to him.

"Jillian Mom said to stay inside!" Ryan shouts. Jillian comes running outside, barefoot, without a jacket, crying. I pick her up.

"I'm scared!" she says.

"Guys no!" Ryan says.

Juliette, Caden, Cody, Ben, and Mason all one running, and in Mason's hands is Will. Josh takes Will, and Johanna picks up Mason, and Annie takes Ben, and then Prim gets Juliette, Mom gets Caden and I get Cody. Rose comes strolling out, and slowly, so does Ryan.

Posy comes out with Vick and they stand with Hazelle and Gale.

The officer's question us, all of us, and they decide that everything is okay, and then they leave.

When we start going back into the house, all of the kids start sobbing hysterically.

We're all quiet, trying to figure out what to do, and then I go in the house anyways.


	39. Chapter 39

The kids are back to school a few weeks later, and they're not getting any sleep. Peeta and I have the whole day to ourselves.

I can hardly go into the living room.

It's January 30th.

"I want to adopt another baby." Peeta says. "Or have one."

"What?" I ask, startled.

He sighs. "I really want to. I miss seeing them say their first word. I want to put my hand on your belly and feel a baby move. I want another baby."

"First we need to get our own babies to sleep through the night." I say.

"Let's move somewhere else in the city. Battery Park has a ten bedroom penthouse for sale. I saw a flier for it this morning when I dropped the triplets off at preschool. From the looks of it, it's really, really nice."

"We still have three hours before the kids are home. Let's get a tour."

…..a…..

I want this penthouse. We are on the forty eighth floor and the view is beautiful and it's in Battery Park.

Peeta and I decide to close the deal.

We get home just as Juliette, Caden and Cody are walking up the driveway.

"Why didn't you come to the bus stop? We had to walk alone with people looking at us." Caden says.

"We weren't home." I say, ruffling his hair.

…a…

I'm standing in the kitchen. Peeta's still asleep. I'm moving round the kitchen with a glass of water and I _swear_ I can feel movement _inside_ of me. the kids are in the living room pacing because we are moving and they're more than happy to get out.

I freeze and wait, and there it is again, a little tickling.

I rip my shirt up and stare at my stomach.

I get the tickling again. "FUCK! PEETA! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!" I throw my cup in the sink and turn to run upstairs, but he's standing there in sweatpants, half awake.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Something just _moved_ inside of me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"No, this isn't possible." I start pacing around the kitchen.

"Katniss, your losing your mind." He says.

"No I'm not! I felt something move!" the kids come in.

"Katniss…you need to go back to sleep."

I feel it again, and I rip my shirt up again. "There it is again! I felt it!"

"Katniss." He says.

"I'm not making it up!" I say.

"Katniss, how about you go back to bed for a little while, and if you feel it when you wake up, we'll take you to the doctors."

"No I'm not tired! Peeta, I'm serious!"

"Katniss, there is nothing moving inside of you. There's no way."

"I'm going to Finn's! He'll believe me!"

"Katniss." Peeta says. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm not making it up." I say.

"Just go back to bed." He says. "Just for a little while."

"FINE!" I storm upstairs. "Fuck you for not believing me!" I slam our bedroom door and lay down on the floor.

I watch the fan go around.

And then it hits me.

When I was eight weeks with the triplets, I felt movement.

My heart starts racing. I get up and go into the bathroom and rummage around the cabinets until I find what I'm looking for.

My last three pregnancy tests.

I pee on all of them and sit on the edge of the tub with my head in my hands for five minutes, and then I look at the tests and scream. "I TOLD YOU I FELT SOMETHING MOVING!"

Peeta comes into the bathroom with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. "You didn't." he says.

"_Yes I did_!" I point at the tests. He looks at them, and his eyes widen.

"Shit."

"I told you!"

"But…you have to be at least eight weeks."

I lift my shirt up and turn to the side in the mirror,

Sure enough, my belly is a tiny bit larger than usual.

"Holy shit Peeta." I whisper.

"Do you want this?" he searches my eyes.

"Yes."

He hugs me. "We're having another baby."

"We need to move out. Now."

"We need to tell everyone first." He says.

"Do you think they'll be happy?"

"I don't know. Let's go find out."

We go downstairs. "We have to tell you guys something." I say.

They all sit down.

"You can tell them." I tell Peeta.

He sighs. "Are you opposed…to having another brother or sister?"

Rose lets out a squeal. "You're pregnant? Oh my god, this is the best day ever! We need to go baby shopping right now and get a ton of baby clothes!"

"Can I help decorate the nursery? Please?" Addi asks.

"I'm going to be allowed to spoil the kid, right?" Ryan asks.

"Can I play dolls with it?" Elizabeth asks.

"We can push it in the stroller!" Jillian says.

"And dress it up in cute clothes!" Juliette adds.

"Is it a boy? Can we help give him baths?" Cody asks.

"He will be big like me one day, right?" Caden asks.

"Yes. But, it could be a girl, we don't know yet."

"Well when can we know?" Ryan demands.

"I don't know how far along I am. In a couple of months we'll know for sure."

"Let's go baby shopping!" Rose says.

"Not yet!" Peeta laughs.

"Why not? My brother or sister is _not_ wearing hand-me-downs. Mom, you are so much better than hand-me-downs." Rose says.

"We can go when we find out the sex." I smile.

She groans. "That's going to take _forever_!"

"Time flies honey. You'll be surprised."

"Is the baby in there now?" Juliette walks over to me, stands on my feet and presses her ear to my stomach. "I hear it!" she says.

"Let me try!" Caden pushes Juliette out of the way and presses his ear to my belly, and then Cody, and then Elizabeth and Jillian. Addi, Rose, and Ryan don't, because they know that they can't actually hear the baby.

"Can I go with you to the doctors?" Rose asks.

"When I go, yes, you can. Now, let's get moving."

**Kik me to get a picture of the new baby and the link to their new house.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Guest, if I remember correctly, Katniss said she had her period in November. It's been about two months since then. Just to clear your confusion, not trying to be rude :)**

I'm so shocked the media hasn't found out yet. It's March. I find out the sex in a week. We are settled in the new apart, the entire family I ecstatic for the new baby and Rose is so excited to go baby shopping.

I've been wearing really baggy clothes.

I don't want to be here, though. I'm in California. I'm staying with my parents. I'm here to record two songs for the album and to go on Ellen to reveal the pregnancy before the media finds out.

"Oh, look at you, three and a half months! Oh, oh look! Lift your shirt up! Let me see!" Mom gushes. I lift up my shirt. "Oh my!"

I laugh. "I need to call Peeta. He didn't want me out of his sight and he got into a really bad fight with Haymitch about having me travel pregnant."

"Well I don't blame him! We all were against it!" Dad says. "Come give me a hug."

I out down my bag and walk over to him and hug him.

Prim comes walking in the house and lets out a girlish squeal and hugs me. he lifts my shirt up. "Oh my god! I can't wait! This is so exciting!"

I smile and call Peeta.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm great. I just wanted to tell you I'm at my parents…"

"God, I can't believe he made you travel!"

"Peeta, it's okay. Calm down." I laugh.

He sighs angrily. "I miss you."

"I miss you too."

…..a…

"So you have had a very…busy…couple of months." Ellen says. "You got stabbed and got your kidney taken out because of it, you moved from LA to New York. You're crazy ex-boyfriend rapist broke out of jail and took your brother. You rescued your brother, Cato didn't get back in jail, and then he showed up at your house in New York and your cousin killed him. Now, you live in a new house in New York. How are things now?"

"They're wonderful."

"Wonderful." She says. "And why's that?"

"Well, I'm working on an album. It should release in June." I say. Everyone strts cheering.

"Oh, that's wonderful." Ellen says.

"And um…I'm pregnant."

Everyone gasps and starts cheering again, louder this time.

"No!" Ellen says. "Are you really? How far along are you?"

"I am about three and a half months."

"You aren't even showing."

"I am, actually" I pull my shirt tighter to reveal my baby bump and everyone starts cheering again.

"This si great news! Oh, this is wonderful. And the kids, they're excted, I presume?"

"Yes. They're reall exited."

"And Peeta?"

"He's overjoyed. He couldn't be happier."

"And you?"

"I'm overjoyed too."

"Do you know the sex yet?"

"No, no, not yet. I'll know in a week."

"And um…how is Rosalee doing with the whole…" she doesn't finish her sentence.

"Rose? She's doing well. She's still upset every now and then but I make sure someone is always with her if it isn't me. her therapist is really helping her. As far as I know, she hasn't cut in three months, so that's wonderful."

"So the whole thing with you getting stabbed…what happened exactly?"

"Um…" I hesitate. "It's a little bit hard to explain…"

"Okay." She nods. "Was it you that did it or someone else?"

"Someone else, but it was a total accident."

She nods. "Okay."

…a…

I get to go home early because I recorded the songs after Ellen and that was it.

I walk into the house at eight at night.

I shut the front door loudly to announce my arrival.

"Someone just walked into the house, Dad." Addi says.

All of the kids are older now. Elizabeth is six, the triplets are three, Jillian is almost seven, Ryan and Rose are sixteen and Addi will be fourteen in about two months.

Elizabeth's birthday is July 28th, Ryan's is August 3rd, Rose's is October 2nd, Addi's is May 6th, three days before mine, Jillian's is June 30th and the triplets are September 25th.

"It's just me!" I call, tossing my keys on the table.

"Mom's home!" Addi cheers. She comes running downstairs. "How's the baby?"

"The baby is fine." I hug her, and the rest of the kids, and Peeta.

"How are you?" Peeta demands.

"I'm tired and my back hurts and I really want a pickle."

"Let's get you a pickle and then you can go and take a bubble bath and then you can lay down and watch some TV." Peeta says.

"Okay." I grab my bag, but Peeta takes it and follows me upstairs.

I go to the kitchen and get the mayonnaise, the peanut butter, the jelly, the strawberry cream cheese, the jar of pickles and the bread and the ketchup from the cabinet. Then, I smear everyone on the bread.

"Mom…Mom, that's nasty." Ryan says.

"No it isn't. It's delicious." I disagree.

I add pickles to the sandwich and then some sour gummy worms.

"Kat..." Peeta looks disgusted.

I take a big bite and sigh.

"Is it...good?" Rose asks.

"It's wonderful."

I ear the whole thing.

"You finished the pickles." Peeta picks up the jar to throw it away.

"No! I need that!" I reach for the jar and he hands it to me.

I take it and I drink the juice.

"Oh my god." Addi says, brushing some blond hair away from her eyes, her brown eyes sparkling at she does so. "That's nasty."

"It's wonderful. Don't be so judge mental, Addison Nichole." I put away everything and clean the counter. "I'm going to take a bath." I go upstairs and strip naked in the bathroom.

Peeta knocks on the door and then slips in. He kisses me, and then my belly, and he rubs it. "Do you want me to do something for you? Do you need anything?"

"What day is it?"

"Thursday." He says.

"The kids need to go to bed."

He shakes his head. "They don't have school tomorrow."

"Oh." I frown. Rose comes barging in. She looks at Peeta's hands.

"If your hands were anywhere else on Mom's body I would be absolutely disgusted." She says. "Can we go baby shopping tomorrow? Please?"

"Rose, we don't know the sex yet."

I start the tub.

"We can still go and get stuff that could be both genders."

"Fine!" I say.

"Yes!" She cheers.

"Mom." Ryan says.

"She's naked." Rose says.

"Dad's in there? That's disgusting."

"They're not doing anything."

"Can my friend sleep over tonight?" Ryan asks.

"Ryan, it's late, your mother just got home." Peeta says. "Maybe tomorrow, not tonight."

"Okay." He says.

"He's gone." Rose says. "I need to talk to you about something Mom. Will you come to my room when you get out?" Rose asks.

"Why don't you talk to me now?" I ask.

She looks at Peeta. "It's girl talk."

"About what?" Peeta demands. "Did you have sex?"

"Peeta!" I say at the same time Rose says "Dad!"

"Of course not!" Rose says. She walks out then.

I look at Peeta. "Can you leave?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Did I upset you?"

"No."

"Okay." He kisses me, rubs my belly, and walks out.

I pour bubbles in the tub. I live on the forty sixth floor. I have a giant window in the white tile bathroom and I don't pull the blinds. I never have.

When the bubbles are oozing from our jacuzzi sized bathtub, I slide in and sigh.

This bath was much needed.

"Mom." Addi knocks on the door and then comes in. "Tomorrow, I was wondering...do you think my friend can come with us shopping?"

"No." Rose comes in. "This needs to be just us girls."

"You know Daddy is going to want to come." I slip under water to soak my hair.

"I will tell him that it's only girls coming."

"Can you guys not bother me until I get out of the tub please?" I blurt.

"Right, sorry Mom." Addi says. She walks out and Rose follows her. I get out and lock the door and get back in.

I wash my hair and body and shave everywhere but my head, and then I just sit there in the nice hot water.

I end up falling asleep.

PEETA'S POV

"Daddy." Rose shakes me awake.

"What?" I mumble, having fallen asleep on the couch. "Mom said not to bug her and she locked the bathroom door but she hasn't come out yet and it's four thirty in the morning and she isn't answering when we knock on the door."

"She's still in the bath?" I sit up.

"Yes."

I get up and walk down the hall, past the huge windows. I knock on the bathroom door. "Katniss?"

Nothing. "Katniss!" I knock harder, but still, nothing. Not even movement. The kids look scared. Only Ryan, Rose and Addi are awake.

"She's fine." I say. I knock loudly. "Katniss!" I call.

Still, nothing.

Worry begins to set in.

"Daddy..." Addi looks scared.

I walk into Rose's bathroom and get one of her bobby pins and go back to the door. I work on the lock for a little while until it clicks. I put the bobby pin back and brace myself before I slip into the bathroom.

"Katniss!" I shake her, afraid for a moment that she somehow died.

"What?" She mumbles. "I'm tired Peeta! Go away!"

"Honey, it's four thirty."

"It is?"

"Yes. Come on." I drain the water and help her out of the tub and cover her with a towel.

"No, no I don't want that." She pushes the towel off and heads for the door.

"Katniss Ryan, Rose and Addi are still awake. Your naked."

I gets the clean underwear she brought in and takes my shirt off of me, tosses her dirty clothes in the hamper and lays down on the cold tile.

God, she really out of it.

"Katniss get off the floor."

"I'm tired Peeta. Let me and Brooklyn sleep."

"Brooklyn?"

"That's the baby. I think she should be Brooklyn if it's a girl. Now go away. I'm tired."

"Baby, please get off the floor."

"No."

I reach down and scoop her up and open the door.

"What happened?" Ryan demands.

"She fell asleep."

Rose is cracking up about Katniss and she's recording this.

"Let me sleep! I want to go to sleep! This is abuse!" Katniss rants. I carry her down the hall to our bedroom and I lay her down in our bed.

"Let me sleep!" I snaps.

"Go to sleep." I pull the covers over her.

She looks at the bed and the pillows.

"When did I get home?" She yawns. "Let me sleep."

Me and the kids start laughing.

"I'm crying." She says.

"No you aren't." I smile.

I gets out of bed and heads back to the bathroom. I stop her and bring her back to bed. She does actually start crying now. I put her back in bed.

She drifts off with tears staining her cheeks. I brush them away.

The kids hug me goodnight and walk out, and I go and lock the front door and check on the kids and lay down with Katniss. I kiss her forehead and her belly, and then I pull her close and drift off to sleep with the name Brooklyn embedded in my brain.

KATNISS'S POV

When I wake up, something isn't right.

I specifically remember falling asleep in the bathtub last night with the door locked. Also, my face feels stale, like I fell asleep crying, which I didn't.

I'm alone in bed. I rub my belly for a little bit and then get up and change into a shirt that is tight enough to show my baby bump and a pair of maternity jeans. I bend over and out my hair in a high messy bun.

"How's Brooklyn?" Addi asks when I sit down on the couch.

"Who's Brooklyn?"

"The baby. You said the name was Brooklyn if it was a girl."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did." Peeta says.

"When?"

"Last night at four thirty in the morning." Peeta says.

I stare at him. "What?"

"Do you not remember?" Ryan asks.

"I don't."

"You fell asleep in the tub with the door locked. We didn't know what was wrong. You weren't answering the door. We kept knocking and banging and shouting your name but nothing. Dad picked the lock and came in." Ryan says.

"I shook you awake and you told me '"I'm tired Peeta. Go away."' I helped you it was four thirty and you said '"it is?"' and I told you yes and then I helped you out of the tub. I tried to wrap you in a towel but you pushed it off and tried to leave naked. I told you the kids were still awake and I got you dressed and then you laid down on the floor. You said "I'm tired Peeta. Let me and Brooklyn sleep." and I asked "Brooklyn?" and you said that was the baby and that is should be Brooklyn if it was a girl and then you said that you were tired and you told me to go away again. I asked you to get off the floor and you told me no, so I picked you up. You said it was abuse that I wasn't letting you sleep..." He runs his fingers through his hair. "Oh, and then I put you in bed and you kept saying let me sleep. I covered you and you asked when you got home and then you said let me sleep again and then you got up and tried to go back to the bathroom. I stopped you, and then you started sobbing. I covered you again and you fell asleep."

I stare at him. "Are you making this up?"

"No he isn't. Look. It was hilarious." Rose hands me her phone. The little ones scoot close to me and I press play. We watch and sure enough, everything Peeta and Ryan said was true. I start cracking up when I try to go back to the bathroom.

"What did you want in there?" Rose asks.

"I don't know. I probably wanted to go back to sleep on the floor." I hand Rose her phone.

"You don't remember any of that?" Peeta asks.

I shake my head. "I was kind of out of it from the time I got home till...I don't know. I don't even really remember walking in the door, I just remember getting off of the plane. I mean...I remember bits and pieces but that's it."

"Wow. That's weird." Peeta says.

"Well you said that we are going shopping for the baby today." Rose says firmly.

I groan. "Rose..."

"Mom you said we could!" Ryan bursts. "This is so unfair!"

All the kids start complaining about how I said we could go and now I'm going back on my word and that's disrespectful. I bury my face in my hands and bury my head in Peeta's lap. He starts running his fingers through my hair.

"Fine. Fine, go get dressed." I mumble.

"What?" Addi demands.

"I said go get dressed." I say louder. They start cheering and run off. Peeta and I sit on the couch in silence.

"Do you like that name?"

"Brooklyn?" Peeta asks.

"Yeah."

"I love it. Let's call her that if it's a girl."

I sigh. "Okay." I fall asleep again.

PEETA'S POV

The kids come back, all dressed.

"Is she sleeping? This is so unfair!"

"Knock it off!" I snap. "She's tired and cramping. Be happy your going at all. Let her sleep."

"But she said we were going!"

"And you will. You can wait a couple hours."

"This is so unfair." She screams, waking Katniss, and then storming off to her room and slamming the door with every ounce of strength she has.

"What's wrong?" Katniss mumbles, moving her hands out of her face and putting her hands on my legs, her face still hidden in my crotch.

"She's mad because you went back to sleep." I shrug.

"I should get ready."

"No. If your tired I want you to sleep. Your health and the baby's health is more important."

She sighs and then falls back asleep.

KATNISS'S POV

I wake up the next day and am shocked to find Justice and Kegan and Rye and Grham

PEETA'S POV

Right when the door shuts behind Katniss, Ryan takes a deep breath. "I have to tell you guys something but you have to swear on your lives you won't tell Mom no matter how hard she begs and how mad she gets."

We all narrow our eyes. "Go on."

"So you know how I was late from school on Wednesday?"

"Yes." I say.

"And you know how I've got my new girlfriend? Alexis?"

"Yeah…" I say, and everyone else nods because I know Katniss probably was ranting and told someone in the family on accident and word got out.

"Well we had sex."


	41. Chapter 41

The first thought the crosses my mind is how proud I am of my son.

And then I realize Katniss is going to be pissed.

I should be upset, but come on. Ryan is going to be seventeen in five months.

"You did?" I ask.

He bites his lip and then shakes his head. "Nah, I'm just preparing myself for the future."

"So you didn't?" I ask. He shakes his head again. "Okay."

KATNISS'S POV

I get home with the girls around five. Peeta looks like he's been having a panic attack.

Right when I walk in the door, he hugs me and kisses me.

"How are you? How's the baby?"

"I'm fine. We're fine."

...8...

The next day, I wake up with the need to get out of the house. It's early. I get up and get showered and get dressed. I make sure to be super quiet at to not wake Peeta, but Cody is just walking into our bedroom when I'm walking out. He slams right into me and starts falling, but I catch him before it's too late. I pick him up. He's still tired and in his pajama's.

I decide he doesn't need to get dressed, I'm just going to get coffee.

I change my mind though, and I take him into his room.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?" I ask.

"Okay Mommy." He lays down on his bed. I bathe and then take him to his room and I get him a clean diaper, a pair of jeans, black Chuck Taylor's, the get the wipes too, a white short sleeve shirt and a letter jacket.

"You have to start going on the potty." I tell him as I put on his diaper.

"I know. You tells me alls the times." He says.

"You tell me all the time." I correct. "That's how you say it. Say it. You tell me all the time."

"You tell me all the times." He says.

"No. You tell me all the time."

"You tell me all the time." He says, and then he smiles.

"That's right." I dress him and he kisses my cheek. I sit him down on the couch, toss his diaper in the trash, was my hands, and whisper, "Stay right there." He nods. I sneak into Peeta and I's room. He's awake, standing up, looking around. I freeze.

"Morning." He says. I kiss his cheek. "Morning."

"How long have you been up?" He asks.

"About an hour. I'm going out."

"Where?" He asks.

"To get coffee. Cody's with me."

"Where is he?"

"On the couch."

"Okay. Be careful. My phone will be up all the way and I'll put on the life proof case so it's with me in the shower. Call if anything happens."

"Okay." I kiss him and grab my car keys and phone and wallet.

"Let's go baby." I wake Cody up. He skips to me and I take his hand.

We go downstairs and outside.

...9...

We walked the whole way because I needed to get out and Cody was too restless to ride in the car. I made in promise to keep holding my hand no matter what.

We're walking out of Starbucks and a lady looks at me and screams. "It's Katniss! Get her!"

A huge group of people run for me and Cody.

I realize it too late so I don't have time to go back into Starbucks.

I pick up Cody and run.

He's screaming, scared, and I'm trying to run and pull out my phone to call Peeta. People are screaming for the crowd to stop because I'm pregnant for fucks sake.

I run as far as I can and end up dropping my phone. It gets ran over

And I know that's it.

Rye lives closer to where we are then I do, do I take a sharp left and run down the street. I bang on Rye's door. He rips it open, half awake, and then looks over my shoulder and pulls me in the house.

"You ran?" He demands.

I start nodding like crazy and I lean over, setting Cody down. I can't even speak.

"People chased us Uncle Rye Rye!" Cody says.

Rye pulls out his phone and explains what happened to Peeta.

About ten minutes later, Peeta walks in the door.

He's mad. I can see it in his eyes.

"It wasn't my fault!" I snap.

"I know." He says. "Are you guys okay?" I know he means me, the baby, and Cody.

"Yes." I say.

"Let's go." He says. He looks over his shoulder at Rye. "Thanks, bro."

He says.

"No problem, little bro." Rye says.

We walk out.

...9...

Peeta and I get into a fight that night, but this time I'm we're not yelling. The kids are staying out of it, thank god.

"You can't just decide we're moving!" I snap.

"Really? I just did." He challenges.

"This isn't very wise. Why do we have to move?" I demand, crossing my arms.

"We can't raise kids in a city like this."

"Why not?" I snap.

"Because...what happens when the baby is born and they're to restless and they can't be quiet and they can't contain themselves?" He asks. "Like right now, for example." He gestures to the triplets who are running round squealing.

"We send them to a room." I reply.

"These walls are practically paper thin. If we send them to a room, they'll just continue there." He says.

He's right and we both know it. I see in his eyes that there's another reason that paper thin walls is bad.

"Are Rose and I even going to have a high school class to graduate with?" Ryan blurts.

"That's another thing. We can't just move their schools."

"Sure we can. This'll be the last time."

"We said that when we moved to Oklahoma." I cross my arms. "I hate moving. You know that."

"We didn't know your Mom was going to get cancer." He says.

"So it's her fault?" I demand.

"Did I say that?" He snaps.

"It was implied!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Whatever. I'm done. I'm tired. My body hurts. Everyone better leave me alone."

"I'm not done." He says.

"I don't give a fuck." I hiss. I go into the bathroom and slam the door and take a bath. I get out and get dressed. When I'm going to our room, I let him know the couch is his tonight, and then I go into our room and slam the door and lock it.

...8...

I wake up at midnight and stare at the white ceiling.

I can't sleep without him.

After telling myself I can for twenty minutes, I get up and stretch, and then I walk into the living room. He's still up with Rose and Ryan, and he's tired enough to fall asleep but he won't.

I stand there for a second and then I take his hand. "Come to bed. Please?"

He's so tired. He nods and gets up.

"Night guys." I tell the kids. "Love you. Now go to bed. You have school tomorrow."

"Okay. Love you too." They say, getting up. Peeta tells them what I just did and they reply the same thing, and then I drag him to bed.

"Why'd you change your mind?" He asks.

"I can't sleep. It's not the same without you." I whisper. He takes off everything but his boxer briefs and lies down. I crawl across the bed to him and kiss him, and then I lay down next to him.

"Katniss." He whispers after a minute. "I'm sorry. You're right."

"Shhh." I whisper, pressing my finger to his lip. "I'm sorry. You're right, not me. Let's move." I'm so tired my words are slurring.

"Katniss..." He whispers.

I fall asleep.

...9...

Cody is laying in our bed when I wake up. Peeta wakes up at the same time as me and I can see in his face that he didn't know he was in here. Juliette comes in and lays down and goes to sleep too, and then Caden. Peeta goes back to sleep.

Why are they all in here?

I look at the click.

It's eight thirty. It's Monday.

The kids aren't at school.

"Peeta!" I shake him awake.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He looks panicked and frantic.

"It's eight thirty!"

"So? Your doctors appointment isn't until Saturday."

"It's Monday! The kids aren't at school!"

His eyes widen and he jumps up. I wake all the kids and make them get in the shower. I have Peeta make breakfast and I run around get get the triplets and Elizabeth and Jillian bathed.

The kids eat. I deliver the older ones to school and Peeta delivers the little ones.

I get home first and I'm about to make cereal when Peeta gets home. "Babe?" He calls.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Let's go to Starbucks. We can get a muffin and we can start looking for houses on my laptop. Finnick is working today."

"But I'm hungry." I whine.

"You can get a muffin or something." He says. "Please? I don't want to be in the house all day."

"You can go out." I don't look at him. I may have forgiven him last night but that doesn't mean I'm not mad still.

"Please Katniss? I want you to come with me. We never get to spend time alone anymore."

"Yes we do."

"No we don't." He argues.

"Really, because I'm pregnant so..."

"Katniss..." He sighs, and he looks upset.

"Peeta." I look at him and cross my arms. He looks so upset.

"We aren't getting a divorce are we? We got into another fight...Katniss I..."

"No." I say shortly. "Fine. I'll go with you to Starbucks."

"Really?" He asks.

"Yes. Let's go."

...9...

We didn't get very lucky looking at houses.

"I'm gonna run to the store to get something for dinner." He says. "Do you want to come?"

We're standing in the same spot that we ran into each other years ago.

"Can I just stand here? You won't take long will you?"

The paparazzi are hiding in bushes.

"I'll be faster than a slow computer."

I frown. "So you'll be slow but not as slow at a computer?"

It's his turn to frown. "I meant I'll be really quick." He laughs.

"That's makes no sense." I smile. He tucks a loose strand of my dark waves behind my ear and backs up into the street.

"Then I'll be as fast as lightening." He grins and keeps walking backwards towards the store.

"That's much, much-"

A semi comes quizzing down the street right towards Peeta. The driver is talking on the phone and eating a burger, so he doesn't see him. Peeta is looking at me so he doesn't see him.

My heart drops into my stomach.

"PEETA!" I scream, shooting forward, dropping his laptop and my phone, my new one, and grab the scruff of his shirt and yank him forward. We are so close to the semi that as it speeds past, it pulls on our clothes. I pull him onto the sidewalk.

The look on my face is one of horror. My hands are in his, and then on his forearms, and then his biceps, and then his shoulder, and last, his cheeks.

"You were almost dead." I whisper. The paparazzi are out of the bushes and some people that saw the incident have stopped walking and are waiting to see what's going to happen. "Peeta, you were almost dead!" my voice is rising to hysteria. "You almost died! You almost died! You weren't even paying attention!" I'm yelling now.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You almost fucking died, Peeta!"

"I'm sorry."

"You almost left me!" Fat hot tears start sliding down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He puts his hands on my cheeks and start wiping away the tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry."

"You almost died." I say through clenched teeth.

"I'm so, so, so sorry." He whispers.

I don't know what comes over me, probably pregnancy hormones, but I start full blown, can't breathe, choking on tears, embarrassingly loudly sobbing. My face is buried in my hands.

His strong warm arms envelop me. I remove my hands from my face and throw them around his neck instead.

He whispers apologies over and over and over again. I don't let myself cry long, but he doesn't let go of me until he knows that in completely done.

Finally he releases me, and I see how badly I soaked his shirt. "I'm sorry." I whisper.

"No." He puts his finger on my lips. "No apologizing. You are fine. You've done nothing wrong. It's all my fault." He picks up everything off the ground and start shoving the stuff in his pockets, leaving out his laptop.

"Can we go home please." I whimper.

"Let's go, Katniss Joy."


	42. Chapter 42

We just get home when I get a text from a group message.

Ryan: _can u come get us_

Rose: _please? I'm about to cry_

Me: _why?_

Ryan: _we're reading this book in class_

Me: _it's a book._

Rose: _it takes about these three little girls that get raped over and over again. It's a true story. It's upsetting me. please? I'm about to cry._

Me: _why the FUCK are you guys reading a book about getting raped?_

My anger rises through the roof.

Ryan: _mom please. Rose just started crying and they stopped the book and now everyone wants to know what's wrong. Mom it reminds us of you._

I don't answer them, I just grab my purse.

"I'm going out. I'll pick up the kids, too."

"Where are you going?"

"Finn's." I say, and that's the truth.

I'm going to Finn's _after_ I pick up the kids.

I kiss him. "And I'll get something for dinner."

"Can I um…will you be mad if I start packing?" Peeta asks.

"No." I kiss him and walk out of the house, rush down to the car and speed all the way to Ryan and Rose's school. I braid my hair as I walk into the office.

The secretary looks shocked, to say the least, to see me.

"How can I help you?" she asks.

"I need to pick up Ryan and Rose Mellark." I say.

She starts typing. "Can I see your identification please?" she asks.

I get my license from my wallet and hand it to her.

My phone beeps.

Ryan: _DOES ROSE HAVE ASTHMA SHE IS HAVING AN ATTACK AND CAN'T BREATHE_

Rose does have asthma, and I have her inhaler.

Ryan: _someone just said that it would be really funny is she suffocated_

"I know this might sound a bit crazy but do you think you ca take me to their classroom? My daughter is having an asthma attack." I show her the message from Ryan.

"Um…" she calls for the principle and speaks to him for a second, and then she comes back and leads me down a series of ridiculous hallways

Ryan: _mom!_

Ryan: _you know the reason she gets bullied is because people don't believe you're our Mom. They go at me too but I tell them to fuck off. Mom she's going to pass out_

I start digging in my purse for her inhaler.

Ryan: _MOM_

The secretary opens a classroom door and walks in and holds it open for me.

Kids are _laughing._

_They think it's funny that she can't fucking breathe?_

Ryan looks shocked. He's trying to talk to her. She's just about to lose consciousness when I hand her the inhaler. I rub her back until she can breathe again, and then she stands up and hugs me, and I can tell she's trying her hardest not to have a breakdown.

I lock eyes with Ryan and silently ask him _who_?

His eyes flick across the classroom to a group of people that are clearly the popular people.

Fuck, I hate them already.

"Okay?" I ask her.

"I'm fine." She whispers.

"I bet they've had sex. They're not blood related." One of them whispers.

"No, I bet Ryan's the Dad."

Rose and Ryan are watching me closely because they know I have a mouth on me.

I look at them. "I'm sorry, is there something you wanted to say?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

They raise their eyebrows. "No." one of them says.

"Good choice." I say.

…a…

Peeta packed more than half of the house while we were gone on Monday. It's Saturday now and we're at the doctors now.

Justice, Kegan, Rye, Ashley, Olivia, Graham, Christina, Emma, Finn, Ann, Jo, Blight, Mason, and Ben are here, along with my family, we we're in a pretty big room. The jell is cold and it makes me flinch, but I'm used to it.

"I bet six thousand it's a boy." Kegan says.

Justice grins. "I bet six thousand it's a girl."

They shake on it, and I roll my eyes.

"I'm going to piss myself if it's a transgender." Rye says.

Peeta and I both scowl at him and he smirks.

"But it's not obviously."

"What is a transgender?" Elizabeth asks.

"It is a baby that is both a girl and a boy."

Her eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. "Oh. I don't want that."

I just run my hands through her hair in response.

God, I remember doing this when I was pregnant with her.

The doctor puts the wand on my belly.  
"What is that beep?" Juliette says.

"The baby's heartbeat." Peeta whispers. "Now sit down and be quiet."

Her tiny hand covers her mouth and she bobs her head up and down.

"It looks like…wait, no, that's a finger. This little baby is definitely a girl."

Everyone in the room starts cheering, and Kegan looks happy although he owes Justice 6,000 dollars.


	43. Chapter 43

We're in the new house in Kennesaw, Georgia. Our address is **(this the real address)** 5156 Foxvale Cove NW, Kennesaw, GA. 30152.

We live in a very rich neighborhood. It is gated in and there are children of all ages so all of our kids spend every second not at school or not doing homework outside playing. In the center of the neighborhood is a very nice graveyard. The elementary school is in our neighborhood, and there's a forest, and a park. The middle school and high school are down the street, so close that Addi bikes to middle school. Ryan and Rose would, but they both have their driver license so they drive. There are cherry blossom trees all over the neighborhood. Our house is one acre and right behind it is the lake, and the kids go swimming there. It's summer now. I'm seven months pregnant and I feel like a fucking hippo and Brooklyn is enjoying beating the shit out of me. She's so restless that she wakes me up every night.

Now the kids are swimming in the lake with the rest of the neighborhood and I'm lying on the lawn chair out back. Peeta is swimming too, but I refused even though I could.

Of course Finn and Annie and Rye and Graham and Christina and Ashley and Jo and Blight all moved too with their kids, and then last week a moving van showed up an moved in the house down the street and five minutes later a car pulled into our driveway and Justice and Kegan came waltzing into the house and we found out they moved in down the street.

My phone deeps.

Prim: _so I haven't told anyone in the family yet…_

Prim: _Collin and I broke up and he took the ring back _

Me: _what the fuck! Why?_

Prim:_ he said I'm taking too long to get the wedding ready. Whatever. I'm over it, and him. I have a new boyfriend. His name is Parker. He's blond and he has brown eyes and he's super cute._

Me: _is he nice or are you with him because of the looks?_

Brooklyn nails me in the ribs really hard and I flinch.

Prim: _he's nice. he might come for Brooke to be born. How is the little stinker by the way?_

Me: _she's a painful little one. She has a really hard kick and she gets me in the same spot every time she nails me. it hurts. She wakes me up every night. She's a pain in the ass but its cute._

Prim: _I need to tell you something_

Me: _what?_

Prim: _I broke the family rule_

I stare at the screen.

Me: _what?_

Me: _you've lost it! Mom is gonna shun you!_

Prim: _so? He's really sweet Katniss. I really like him._

Me: _did you use protection_

Prim: _nope_

Me: _are you on birth control?_

Prim: _nope _

Me: _is this your disgustingly sick way of telling me your pregnant?_

Prim: _yup_

"Prim's pregnant!"

Everyone in my family stops what they're doing. I clamp my hand over my mouth.

Me: _fuck. You need to tell Mom._

Prim: _hell no! I'll tell her when I'm at your house. That way, when she yells, you'll be there to defend me. in the meantime, you can just tell everyone that lives with you and make them swear to secrecy._

Prim: _I'm so excited_

Me: _Prim you broke the family rule_

Prim: _are u mad?_

Me: _do you even love this boy?_

Prim: _he's cute. Honestly, he's really cute._

Me: _is he nice to you?_

Then I just call her. "Yes he is." She says.

"I'm just going to tell you flat out, you are a dumbass."

"Why?" she snaps.

"You're pregnant with a guy you aren't even in love with."

"And your point is…?"

I hang up on her and then get up and waddle into the house.

What a fucking dumbass!

She doesn't even know what she's getting herself into.

I'm not defending her. This is a terrible, terrible mistake.


	44. Chapter 44

I'm due in exactly one week from today. The kids are in school again. The whole family is down. Prim is glowing but she doesn't tell anyone. She brought the boy with her.

I'm pissed at everything that does anything

"Katniss you need to relax." Mom says.

"No. I'm not going to relax. Stop trying to control me." I snap. Peeta smirks and looks down to hide it.

I get up and start walking around the kitchen purposely because she told me to relax.

She needs to learn that I do what I fucking want.

"Mom." Rose says. "You should really relax."

"No!" I shout at her. Elizabeth turned seven in July, Jillian turned eight in June and it's September, and the triplets will be four in about three weeks. Ryan turned seventeen last month.

"Why not?" she yells right back.

"Rose." Peeta says. "Stop."

"Why? She needs to relax! She's going to put herself into early labor!"

"No I won't. How many times have you been pregnant? None! This is my third time!"

"I don't care!" she says.

"Rose." Peeta says again. "Just give it a rest."

Brooklyn kicks me really hard, and it hurts really fucking bad.

I know it isn't a contraction, but the pain is bad enough to make me sit back down.

"I _hate_ being pregnant."

"No you don't." Peeta says. "Your just mad because you're in pain and you want your body back."

"Fuck you." I snap, and he just smirks.

I get another pain, but this time it is a contraction. It's short, but I recognize it.

"You're having contractions." He says.

"Am not!" I snap.

Justice snickers under his breath.

It hurts so fucking bad and I let out a breath once it passes.

"Yes you are." He says.

"Fine! Leave me alone! I'm fine! Back off! You guys are so clingy! Just leave me alone!"

We sit in silence for twenty minutes. Peeta makes Jillian move so he can sit next to me. He grabs my hand, and I know it's so I can squeeze the shit out of it

I get another contraction and I start squeezing his hand.

"I am not excited to push another kid out." I mutter.

"Yes you are. Stop lying." He runs his fingers through my hair.

I look at Mom. "How fast is this going to happen?"

"I think your water is going to break soon."

"Not on the fucking couch." I move to the floor.

"Katniss." Peeta begins.

"Stop talking."

He laughs.

Another contraction. It's longer now, almost a minute long and it takes every ounc of strength I have not to cry out.

"Can it break when I'm on the floor?" I ask.

"Yes."

"I want to get up." I say.

"No." Rose says.

"Yes." Mom says. "It's going to help. Get up and walk around. Peeta, go with her so when another contraction comes you can help her. Katniss, this is going to go fast. The more kids you have, the faster labor is."

"I don't want her to be premature. I don't want her in the hospital. Can't we just-oh, god." I squeeze the shit out of Peeta's hand and he has to help me stay upright until it passes. "Can you just delay it?" I ask desperately.

"Honey, you could have contractions like this for a week before the baby is even born." Mom says.

…a…

The exactly what happens. I keep having contractions and the closer we get to my due date, the longer and more painful they get.

On the morning of September 9th, my due date, I get up and walk all around the house. Peeta follows me and I keep stopping every five minutes to a contraction.

Mom is saying they may have to break my water for me.

I sit down for a few minutes, and then get paranoid and stand up, and right when I stand u, Brooklyn nails me with a kick and water comes rushing down my legs.

I stare at the water on the floor. "We are not leaving until I clean this up. Not on the wood floor, oh god." I go for the mop, but Peeta stops me.

"I'll clean it up." Rose says. "Go. I'll meet you at the hospital. I'll bring everything we need. Everyone go!"

Peeta sweeps me up into his arms and runs, and everyone chases after us.

…..a…..

My doctor is sick, so Mom is delivering me, which makes me more comfortable because I don't want a sick person delivering my newborn.

When we get into the hospital room, I stop holding back the cries of pain.

"Have you ever delivered a baby on your own before?" I demand.

"No."

"Mom!"

"I'm not alone, Peeta's here."

The media already knows that I'm in labor and already I know it's all over the place.

Mom and Peeta help me strip naked and put me in a hospital gown.

…..a…..

"I thought you said this was going to be quick!" I shout at Mom as another contraction passes. I'm exhausted and so is Peeta, but if Mom is, I can't tell.

It's been two fucking days of this. I've been going through this shit for two days straight. It's been a week and two days of contractions. I just want to go to sleep.

"Can you please just do a C-section?" I gasp. Mom fingers me again.

"You are nine centimeters dilated."

"I want to push."

"Don't." she says. "Just one more push, one more."

Another contraction and I almost start crying. It hurts so badly!

Another one, and I do start crying, and Peeta looks like he's in pain too.

"Why is this happening now? Why didn't this happen with Elizabeth!"

"She's fine!"

"I need to push!" I shout at both of them. Another contraction hits. I cry again.

Mom checks to see how dilated I am.

"Start pushing."

I don't wait a second.

When I pushed out Elizabeth, I refuse to let myself scream, but now, god, I scream every single bad word at the gods. I scream and push and scream and push.

"Stop!" Mom says. I stop pushing and stop screaming and swearing.

I hear Brooklyn's wailing. I watch Peeta cut her umbilical cord, I watch Mom wraps her a black blanket and hand her to me. She keeps crying though, but she is so beautiful. Elizabeth cried too.

She doesn't have my hair, but she doesn't have Peeta's either, she has a mixture of both. Everything she is a mixture of both of us. Her jaw isn't swear like Peeta's or round like mine, it's a mixture of both, her lips aren't Peeta' and they aren't mine, they're both, the same goes for everything else. Her air is so cute. Her eyes are still closed, so I can't see them. Mom takes her from my arms. I watch her wash her off and take her measurements and her footprint and handprint and make up her birth certificate.

"Brooklyn Paige, right?" she asks.

"Yeah." Peeta says, running his fingers through my hair. "Are you okay?"

I nod tiredly and stare at Brooklyn.

Peeta starts taking tons of pictures of Brook. Mom wraps her up and hands her back to me. I scoot over so Peeta can lay next to me.

"You don't need stitches this time." Mom says. She hesitates. "I'm going to go deliver the news. Just…I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"Bring the kids with you, okay? Tell them to be really quiet."

"Okay." She walks out and shuts the door behind her.

After a couple minutes of silence, she stops crying and opens her eyes. I gasp, and so does Peeta.

"Oh my gosh." I whisper, my eyes filling up with tears.

They're gray at the edges, but then the gray gradually fades to Peeta's blue, and from Peeta's blue it starts going back to gray. Close to the pupil there is a squiggly line that is a mixture of blue and gray.

"Can I?" Peeta whispers, holding out his arms.

Silently, I place Brook in his hands. We continue looking at her there, my head rested against her arm.

"She's beautiful." I whisper.

"That's an understatement for her, and for you, and for all our kids. Beautiful is an understatement. Gosh…she's…"

"She's as radiant as the sun."

"Yes, and so are you and the rest of the kids." He whispers.

"Yeah, and you." I whisper.

I hear the doorknob turn and he puts her back in my arms. I put my legs down and cross my ankles.

All the kids come filing in, and they're so quiet that it scares me. The kids are never quiet.

They all push each other out of the way and when they all get a glimpse of her, their hands cover their mouths, and Rose and Addi start crying tears of joy.

"Can I hold her?" Rose whispers.

"Go wash your hands." I whisper, shifting so I'm sitting up and crossing my legs. Peeta does the same. She does and she sits down. Peeta positions her arms and transfers her to Rose's arms.

"Oh my, she's so tiny." She whispers. "I can't believe everyone was this small once."

We decide we all are going to take pictures with the kids as they hold them.

We take a picture with Rose.

Ryan goes next, and he has the same reaction. We take a picture with him. Addi looks so excited and proud. We do Jillian next. We help her hold her.

Elizabeth is bouncing up and down the whole time. I have her wash her hands and she does and she looks so happy and excited. She climbs onto the bed and sits down with her legs crossed. I help her hold her and she smiles the biggest and the proudest. We do the triplets next.

After, I sit back.

"Does it hurt?" Rose whispers.

"Your vagina expands as far as her shoulders." I say. She looks at Brooklyn's shoulders and then she looks like she's going to be sick.

"You are really strong."

I smile. "Women are really strong."

"Eh." Ryan says.

"She's right." Peeta says. "You'll understand when you have to watch it." Peeta runs his fingers through my hair.


	45. Chapter 45

The family is staying with Finnick and Annie. We just got home. Brooklyn is fast asleep so I put her in her crib. I take a shower and make sure the house is spic and span, and then I go upstairs and go to sleep.

God, I'm so tired.

PEETA'S POV

The kids are getting loud so I kick them out of the house.

I end up falling asleep on the couch.

KATNISS'S POV

I hear Brooke's screaming and it's close. Rose shakes me away then.

"Mom she's crying." She says. "I changed her diaper but she won't stop."

I take her and pull my shirt down and move her. She starts sucking eagerly. I lay back down.

"Does that hurt?" she asks.

"No." I mumble. "Until she gets teeth. Then she bites. That hurts like a bitch." I laugh and she smiles.

...2...

After a week, I decide it's time I started working back to my beloved size zero without going Kim Kardashian and getting it surgically removed.

"I'll babysit." Rose says.

"Your going walking?" Peeta asks.

"Yes."

"I'll come with you." he says. He's already in basketball shorts, so he just takes off his shirt and goes upstairs for a second. He comes back with his phone. I've resorted to sweats and a t-shirt and my Nikes. I braid my hair. He comes back with his Nikes on. "There's a bottle of milk in the refrigerator. If she gets hungry, but the bottle in the microwave for five second increments and test the milk on the inside of your wrist. You only want it lukewarm. Don't forget to burp her. If you have any problems, call me."

"Okay." She says. "Don't rush home."

We both laugh. "Keep an eye on the little ones too." I say.

"I will."

"Love you." I say, kissing all of my nine kids heads.

"Love you too." They say, except for Brooke.

"Love you." Peeta says.

"Love you too."

Peeta opens the front door and gestures me outside.

We fast walk across the street right into the graveyard. I love it here. It's so pretty.

We walk the graveyard and pass Finn and Annie's on the way. Annie and I made up that day that we went shopping for Brooke the first time.

They're outside, and we wave to them.

"Where's Brooke?" Finn calls. My family is outside too.

"Rose is watching her!" I call back. He nods and we keep going.

Once we pass the hides of our family and just get to the neighborhood friends, I start jogging and he laughs and joins me.

"I'm worried about Prim." I admit as we go.

"Why?" He asks. I'm quiet, and for a moment the only noise is the slapping of our shoes against the pavement, the laughter of children playing and the chirping if birds.

"She's engaged to that boy."

"What?" He blurts.

I nod. "I saw the ring on her. She lied about it. She doesn't know I know. Peeta, she doesn't love him, she loves his face and his penis, that's it. She's pregnant with his kid. Fuck Peeta, I'm so scared for her. That kid, my niece or nephew, is not going to grow up in a safe environment. I don't want to get Mom involved but it's seeming like that's my only choice."

He seems to consider this for a moment. "Why don't you tell Lauren?"

"I bet she knows. I bet she agrees with Prim."

"I think someone should tell your mom then."

"Someone being me?"

"No. If you do it she's going to get mad at you for not telling her. We could have Elizabeth ask Prim how the baby is in front of your Mom."

I'm silent for a while. "That could work. Only, I don't want to bring the kids into this mess."

"Good point." He sighs. "I'll ask her."

"Peeta..." I trail off.

"What? Your parents come over for dinner tonight. It's Criday and the kids don't have school. I'll ask about the baby and catch her red-handed. I'll say I overheard Prim talking to Parker."

"She'll just eat me out."

"She'll what?" He stops running.

"Rat me out, not eat." We both laugh.

"Anyways." He starts jogging again. "She won't eat you out. She knows if she does, you'll tell everyone she's engaged. Katniss, she knows you saw the ring. She knows your suspicious. There's no point. I'll ask her and she won't rat you out."

"Fine. It's going to start a family fight and when it does I'm kicking everyone out."

"Fair enough." he says.

We come up to our driveway. I don't want to be done. "Again?" I ask.

"Sure."

...9...

I decide to pay Rose. We were gone for three hours because we went around a ton of times. So I give her thirty bucks.

"I helped watch the little ones." Ryan says.

I give in and pay him too.

I see Addi's face fall. When nobody's looking, I slip her thirty and whisper, "you didn't get it from me."

She grins, kisses my cheek, and disappears upstairs.

...8...

Everyone is over for dinner. I kick Peeta from under the table and I see his eyes widen and he pauses and shoots me a look. Johanna saw it and she narrows her eyes.

"I need to talk to you after dinner about something." Johanna says.

I look at her and see she's looking right at me.

"Did I do something wrong?" I ask.

"No." she says. Her eyes flick to Blight. "I just need your help." Her eyes then flick to my huge belly and then her own.

It clicks and my fork clatters against my plate from shock.

"Are you okay?" Mrs. Mellark asks.

"Oh i'm fine." I look at Johanna with wide eyes and she just shrugs.

"Don't think I didn't see that." Finn says.

"See what?" We ask in sync.

"You just told Kitty something that surprised her. If I was paying attention I'd have seen it."

Johanna shoots me that look that tells me I can tell him.

My eyes flick to my stomach and then to Jo.

"Really?" He blurts.

"Shhh!" We both snap.

"I so caught that." Peeta smirks. "I won't say anything." He adds.

We all continue being quiet. When we're done eating, I get up and start clearing plates.

"Katniss why don't you just take a break?" Prim demands.

"What do you mean?"

"Your always busy. Kick back, have some sex."

"I'm sorry, who just had a baby?" I ask. She purses her lips.

"Speaking if babies, Prim, how's yours doing?" Peeta says.

Prim's eyes widen and her face gets all pale.

"Baby?" Mom asks. "What baby? Prim, surly you aren't pregnant! You've only been with Parker for five months."

"You son of a bitch!" Prim shouts at Peeta.

"What'd i do? I thought you told her!" Peeta says.

"Fuck, he's such an excellent liar."

"How did you find out?" Mom demands from Peeta.

"She told him!" Prim points at me.

"Who? Katniss? No she didn't." Peeta says.

"Bullshit! She's the only one I told! I told her she could tell everyone that lived around her!"

"Wait, your pregnant?" Rye blurts.

I love Rye. He so knew she was pregnant. He's coving for us.

"I didn't know you were pregnant."

Finn says.

I turn back around to face the sink.

"Katniss Hoh Everdeen Mellark." Dad says.

Fuck.

"Yeah?" I turn around.

Lie. Lie. I can do it. I've seen Peeta do it a trillion times. I can do it.

"Who did you tell that Primrose was pregnant? Why didn't you tell us she broke the family rule?"

"I didn't tell anyone and I didn't tell you guys because it's not my place to tell." I lie.

Peeta looks so proud, and I can see in his eyes that I nailed it.

"Peeta Ryan, how did you figure it out?" Mrs. Mellark demands.

"I heard Prim talking to Parker." He says.

"Are you fucking kidding!" Prim stands up so fast that she knocks her chair over and it makes a loud noise that echo's throughout the house. I hear Brooke start crying. Jillian gets up and runs off. "Your such a little bitch! Your lying!" Prim shouts at me.

"I'm not lying." I say.

"Prim, to be fair-" Finn begins.

Did I mention he signed the adoption papers so he is legally my brother.

Eight year old Jillian comes in with Brooke. She's struggling. She walks over to me and I take Brooke and work on calming her down. I expose my shoulder too, and she starts sucking on it. All my kids love sucking in shoulders.

"You shut the fuck up! You don't know anything! You aren't even blood! You can't be family without being blood!"

"Whoa," Ryan starts.

"You stop!" She shouts at him.

"No. Why don't you stop being a bitch?"

"Ryan!" Peeta and I both scold.

"What? I'm not blood but in still related. The same goes for anyone else. Hell, Dad isn't blood to your side but he's still considered blood!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Prim shouts.

Everyone starts fighting. Everyone is ganging up against Prim and they're pissing her off even more and they're too loud.

I walk over to my electric guitar and plug the amplifier into the wall. Suddenly, Haymitch shoots forward and his hands lock around Parker's neck. All the kids start sobbing. I blast the amp and loudly strum the guitar. It's so loud that I cover Brooklyn's ears and it can probably be heard down the street. Everyone falls silent. Effie and Mrs. Mellark rip Haymitch off of Parker.

"Everyone needs to get the fuck out right now. I don't give a flying fuck who it is. Get out. If you don't have a bedroom I this house I want you gone." My voice is so calm that everyone knows how pissed off I really am.

"I'm not leaving." Haymitch says.

"Especially you!" Peeta says. "Get out!"

They all file out.

**Guys something similar happened to me (with the family fight, EVEN THE CHOKING so please don't talk shit.)**


	46. Chapter 46

I can't sleep. It's three in the morning.

I check in all the kids and Peeta and then I get my phone and text Jen.

Me: r u up.

Jen: yeah

Me: can I call you?

Jen: ok

I dial Jen and go outside and start my walk around the neighborhood.

"Yeah?" She asks.

I explain everything that happened today. She listens attentively and I hear her soft noises of sympathy.

"Oh my Katniss that is horrible. Gosh, I can understand why you can't sleep. I would fire Haymitch as your manager, but then who would do it?"

"I don't know." I sit down on a bench.

"I am so sorry." She says.

"It's not your fault. Anyways, the kids are taking it badly. I don't know what to do."

"I would just wait it out. The kids are kids. They'll forget about it. For now, just wait and see what happens. They and stay out of it. Don't voice your opinion." She pauses. "I know it's about time ask but can me and Josh come stay with you for a little while to visit and see Brooklyn?"

"I have to talk to Peeta but I don't mind." I reply.

"Awesome, love you, bye."

"Love you too, bye." I hang up.

I sit down on the sidewalk.

My phone starts beeping like crazy.

Peeta: where r u

Peeta: are u ok

Peeta: why aren't u home

Peeta: are u ok

Peeta: Katniss

Me: I'm okay. I went for a walk. I'll come home now

Peeta: do u want me 2 come get u with the car?

Me: no, I'll be fine

Peeta: ok I love you

Me: I love you too

I start to walk home. My mind is all over the place.

Haymitch choked Parker. Parker didn't do anything. Johanna's pregnant. Prim is not my little sister anymore, she's a mask of her.

What is happening to my family?

...9...

Ryan comes in from his bedroom later that morning with his laptop. I'm nursing with a blanket over me and Brooklyn and Peeta's sitting next to me, stroking Brooklyn's head. Ryan sets his laptop on Peeta's lap and presses the space bar.

It's...it's Delly. It's a video Delly posted on YouTube.

"Do I want to watch this?" Peeta asks, pausing it.

"It's about you and Mom and it's not that bad." Ryan says. It went viral.

Peeta presses the space bar and it starts again. She's sitting in a chair playing the guitar. Every bit of her makeup is gone.

Honestly, I'm shocked at how...well, unattractive she is without makeup.

She starts singing.

_She's beautiful in her simple little way_

It switches from her to me watching down the street. It's not Photoshop. I know because I remember this day.

How the fuck did she get a video of this?

_She don't have too much to say when she gets mad_

_She understands she don't let go of anything_

_Even when the pain gets really bad_

It shows the day where Peeta got hit by the car and I'm sobbing into his shoulder and we're hugging in the street.

_Guess I should've been more like that_

_You had it all for a pretty little while_

_And some how you made me smile when I was sad_

_You took a chance on a bruised and beaten heart_

It shows pictures of Delly and Peeta's relationship. They're kissing in none of them.

_Then you realized you wanted what you had_

_I guess I should've been more like that_

It shows a series of pictures of Peeta and I and we're either kissing or holding hands.

_I should have held on to my pride_

_I should have never let you lie_

_I guess you got what you deserved_

_I guess I should've been more like her_

_Forgiving you, she's stronger than I am_

_You don't look much like a man from where I'm at_

It shows him almost get hit.

_It's plain to see desperation showed it's truth_

_You love her and she loves you with all she has_

_I guess I should've been more like that_

Peeta almost gets hit by a car and then I hugging him again and you can see by the way that we're hugging that he loves me.

_I should have held on to my pride_

_I should have never let you lie_

_I guess you got what you deserved_

_I guess I should've been more like her_

It shows Delly walking down the same street I was and she trips.

_She's beautiful in her simple, little way_

It shows a picture of me.

I'm quiet for a long time.

"She is pissing me off." Peeta says. I move the blanket covering Brook and check on her. She's sleeping and using me as a pacifier.

"Don't even let her get to you."

"Well I'm glad she's done making you miserable. If she's going to go after me I want her to leave you out of it."

I detach Brooklyn from me and cover myself up and take her upstairs and put her in the crib, and then I get dressed and go jogging.

...9...

I left at noon and I jogged for about two hours.

I decide to go to Finn's to make sure my family isn't killing anyone.

The first thing I notice is how quiet it is.

The next thing I notice is Prim and Parker are not here.

Then I notice how nobody is sitting near Haymitch, not even Effie.

I hesitate in the doorway and then slowly step into the house.

"Where's Prim?"

"Don't talk about her." Mom says.

I stare at her.

"Why?"

"Because she is no longer a member of this family."

I can only thank myself over and over again that the Mellark's are staying with Graham and Christina.

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know."

"You don't even care?"

"No." She says.

I rock back and forth for a minute.

"This family is so fucked up." I mutter.

"Excuse me?" Mom asks.

"Fuck the family rule! Nobody come and try and talk to me, or my kids, or my husband! I'm done! Also, you're not my manger anymore!" I turn around and walk out.

Finn comes bolting after me, grabbing hold of my arm.

"Does that count me and Annie and Ben and Johanna and Blight and Mason?"

"No." I turn away and storm down the street.

I don't want to go home. If I go home and rant to Peeta he will just get all stressed out and he'll try and comfort me and the kids will overhear and I don't want to be comforted, I just want someone to rant with me.

I go home anyways, and I change my clothes into day clothes. "I'm going out." I announce.

"To where?" Peeta asks.

"To Graham's."

He raises his eyebrows. "Oh."

"Yes." I grab the diaper bag and get Brooklyn and kiss his cheek and leave. She's awake and looking around the world. The paparazzi can't get in the neighborhood because of the gates and we don't live close enough to the edge for then to see her, so I don't cover her up.

I walk the half a mile to Graham's house and don't bother knocking because I know they'll just tell me not to.

I drop the diaper bag on the floor of the living room and right away, Mrs. Mellark takes Brooklyn away from me.

"How'd things go with your sister?" Graham asks, reading the look on my face.

I sigh loudly.

"That's why you came over." Rye smirks.

I run my hand through my hair. "They shunned Prim and I don't know where she went. I get she broke a family rule but come on, you learn from your mistakes, right?"

"Right." Mrs. Mellark says. I start pacing.

"And I asked mom where she went and she said she doesn't know and I asked her if she cared and she said no. I said that my family was messed up and they all got mad so um..." I sigh. "I kind if fired Haymitch and told them not to come near me or the kids or Peeta...is that wrong?"

"No." Mr. Mellark says. "I would have done the same thing."

Everyone nods in agreement.

"Even Johanna and Finnick?" Justice asks.

"They are the exceptions. And obviously Ben and Mason and Blight and Annie."

"And what does Peeta think about this?" Mrs. Mellark asks.

I start wringing my hands together. "I didn't tell him. I went home and told him I was coming here and I left...I I'm..." I sigh.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Cinna asks.

"Because...here's the thing...you guys know Peeta. If I tell him that he's going to get all worried and try and comfort me and keep asking me if in okay. I know he does it because he loves me but sometimes it gets annoying and I end up telling him to back off and I upset him and then I feel terrible. Plus, if I tell him there's a big chance the kids will hear." I pause. "Also, I don't want comfort, I just want someone to rant with."

"This is such a mess." Portia says. "Our family agreed that if something like this were to occur and someone broke the rule, they wouldn't be shunned."

"I wish my family agreed on that."

"We are your family." Mrs. Mellark says.

"My biological family." I correct myself.

She nods.

"What do I do?" I ask.

"My advice is make sure you keep in contact with your sister." Justice says. "That's what I would do."

I nod in agreement. "Thanks."

My phone starts ringing then. It's Rose.

"Yeah honey?" I ask.

"Where are you, Mom?"

"I'm at Graham's." I say. "Why?"

"Because the boys are all talking about football and they're being immature boys and talking about boobs. Save me Mother."

I laugh. "I'm coming."

"Thank god." She hangs up.

"I have to go home." I say.

"Why?" Graham asks.

"I need to go stop my seventeen year old and my twenty eight year old from talking about the word that starts with S because it's driving Rose crazy."

The adults laugh and I take Brooklyn from Mrs. Mellark and hug and kiss everyone goodbye, and then I grab the diaper bag and walk out.

I walk home, and just as my foot crosses the threshold, my phone starts ringing.

The boys go silent when I go in the house and Peeta takes Brooklyn.

I stare at the caller I.D.

It's Prim.

Fuck.

I can't answer it. I just can't. It's doing the iPhone ringtone and I'm just staring at it.

"Who is it?" Peeta asks.

I press answer.

"Yeah?" I ask.

She's sobbing her eyes out. That's the first thing I hear, only nobody is in the background. "I've fucked up." She sobs. "I've been shunned and Parker left. He told me that my family is crazy, so that means I am, and he told me he wants nothing to do with the baby. Katniss!"

When Prim cries, she hyperventilates.

"I shouldn't be talking to you!" she says. "I'm hanging up."

"No!" I blurt. "Don't. I um…I kind of told them not to bug me or the kids or Peeta and…I fired Haymitch. I'm done with them."

"Katniss I can't raise a kid! I can't be a mother! Fuck! Fuck! I need help! I need help and you can't even help me!"

She's hyperventilating and it scares the shit out of me. "Prim." I whisper. The kids and Peeta are eavesdropping, but I don't blame them. "Oh, little duck. Honey, we'll figure this out. Your not alone. You still have me and Finn and Johanna."

She's hysterical.

"Prim, where are you?"

"I'm at some dingy hotel using money I took from Mom's wallet before I left. I'm out of money yet. I have one night here and then I'm in the street. I was living with Collin, and then Parker. I can't move in with Mom. I don't have a job. Fuck, I don't even have a penny. I can't even get a damn cab."

"Listen." I say, and I need to tell her straight. "You've fucked up big time. Mom shunned you before you broke the family rule. She may say she doesn't love you, but she does. She'll come around. I'm not proud of you. As a matter of fact, I'm ashamed of you, but your still my sister and I'm not going to let you live on the streets. I don't know where you'll go. I'm not saying you can stay with us, because we don't have the room, but I am saying that I'm going to help you. I'll send someone to get you. Calm down. Take a deep breath. Get a glass of water. Sit on your bed and wait. You're not alone. You have me."

"And me." Peeta says, and all the kids nod in agreement.

"Katniss. I don't even know where I'm staying the night. I don't know when I'm going to eat next. I don't even know if I'll be under a roof in a week."

"Where are you?' I ask.

"At Mitchell's Motel."

"Okay." I hang up.

"So let me get this straight." Peeta says. "When you left this morning you stopped at Finnick's. They shunned Prim and you fired Haymitch and shunned your entire family from us." He says.

"Except for Finn and Jo and Blight and Ann and Ben and Mason."

"And when you went to Graham's…?"

"I told them."

"Why didn't you tell us first?"

"Because I was nervous of your reaction and I just wanted to rant and I knew you'd worry about me."

Finn comes in with Ben and Mason and Jo and Blight and Ann and he hugs me.

"Why are our parents so damn stupid?" he whispers.

"I don't know." I whisper back. I explain everything going on with Prim and the next thing I know, Finn's out the door to go pick up our little sister.


	47. Chapter 47

Prim's staying with Finn, Annie and Ben. It's been two months and I've lost all baby weight and I've been doing crunches so I have abs now.

Peeta and I are fighting. I'm stressed out with my family so is he. We're fighting because of the bills. I forgot to pay the electric bill and we lost power. The kids are crying and Rose is comforting them and so is Ryan.

"Your so irresponsible sometimes."

It's storming.

I've had it up to infinite with everything.

"Fine! Go away then!"

"Fine, I will!" he turns around and leaves, and slams the door behind himself.

Addi loses it. "What the fuck Mom! We're a family! I hope you know that you're not the only one stressed out right now! I hate my life! I hate this world! I hate everything! I just want to die!"

I'm about to tell her to watch her fucking mouth, but she walks out of the house in the pouring rain after Peeta.

"You do kind of need to realize that you and Dad aren't the only ones depressed and stressed out right now." Rose whispers. She hands Brooke to me and goes upstairs, and the kids follow her.

….a….

I thought they would come back, but they're not. It's been a week or so. I called the cops already. Addison's a missing person. They asked Peeta, who is in a hotel somewhere in Savannah, if he's heard from her or anything and he apparently said no. I searched almost the entire state and I can't find my daughter.

I'm such a fuck up.

Why don't I think?

Paid all the bills. It's three in the morning. Tomorrow will mark the eighth day since I've seen or heard from Addi and Peeta.

I'm sitting on the stairs, staring at the door, begging it to open with some sort of news. All the kids are asleep. I want to hear from one of them. I want them to answer the phone.

I want to see one of them. I go out on the porch, as if that'll change anything. I rest my head on my knees.

After an hour, someone puts their arm around me.

I look up.

Peeta.

"Don't cry. Don't apologize. Just come here and let me hold you."

"Peeta." I whisper.

"It's okay. Come here."

I scoot closer to him and bury my face in the cotton of his t-shirt.

"I'm sorry." I mumble.

"Katniss." He says. "Yu didn't do anything. I overreacted big time."

…..a…..

Another week and still nothing from Addi. The kids are happy to have Peeta back.

It's two in the morning. My phone is sitting beside me. I'm falling asleep sitting at the stairs when suddenly the chime of my phone rouses me out of the sub conscious state.

I look down at my phone. It's from Addi.

"Addi?" I whisper.

"Mama." She cries.

"Honey, sweetie, where are you?"

"Um, I don't know. I don't know where I am. I'm cold and sick and tired and I want to come home."

"Honey, what do you see. Read a street sign, something. Anything sweetie, anything can help me."

"I see…I see a bar. It's called Abe's and…it's on Tavern Road. Mom. Help." I otice her words are slurring.

"I'm coming; I'm going to find you. I'm coming honey." I jump off the stairs and grab my car keys and my wallet. I run outside, through the pouring rain. I swear, it's always raining.

My phone loses signal.

"Abe's on tavern road." I keep repeating it in my head and start the car. I start to ask Siri, but then I remember my phone doesn't have service, so I get the map and start looking for tavern road.

I trace it with my finger and then I know right where I'm going. I've had to pick Johanna up from there before.

I back out and leave the neighborhood, my windshield wipers going crazy.

I'm being followed by the paparazzi. I start the heater until it's burning hot. I see Abe's and pull over. Addi steps out into the street. I open the door and leave it open. She runs for me. She hugs me, and I hug her too. That's when I notice, even though it's freezing cold with the rain coming down like this, she is steaming. She's burning with fever, and it's a fever that is not safe. I help her into the driver's side and go around to the drivers. It's hot in the car, and she's shivering.

I don't even go home; I just drive Addi right to the hospital and call Peeta.

"Where are you?"

"Addi called and I went to pick her up and she's really sick and she's burning with fever so I took her to the hospital."

"I'm on my way." The line goes dead.


	48. Chapter 48

My knee is bouncing up and down in the waiting room. My elbows are resting on my knees, and my head is resting on my elbows.

Don't know what they're doing and what's wrong with her but they better fucking tell me soon because I'm about to go find her myself.

"Hey." Peeta sits down next to me and puts his arm around my shoulder. He must've just gotten here. "She's going to be fine."

"This is my fault." I mutter.

"No it's not." He says.

"Yes it is. If I had just paid that damn bill-"

"I was the one that overreacted. She left because…well, we do fight a lot. Not necessarily us because we stopped that months ago, but definitely our family. It's overwhelming. I never thought that it could affect the kids so badly."

"Damn." I mumble, lifting my head up to look at him. "We need a vacation."

He chuckles. "Well…we can wait till summer. We can plan a big vacation for us and the kids."

"I want to go to that place that the Kardashian's went to."

"The one where Kim lost her earring in the ocean?" he asks.

"Yeah. It was pretty there." I look around. "Where are the kids?"

"Rose and Ryan are watching them. I told everyone else, too. I think Rye and Graham might come up here though."

Right when he finishes his sentence, Rye and Graham come walking in.

"Is she okay?" Rye demands, sitting down next to me with Graham next to him.

"We don't know anything yet."

….a….

About an hour later, a nurse comes walking over to us and we all rise.

"You guys are here for…" she starts flipping through papers.

"Addison?" I ask.

"Yes." She says. "She has bacterial pneumonia. Her fever got very high. We've given her some antibiotics through her veins. She's going to be delirious, her lips will be a bit blue and her pulse rate is going to be faster. She's going to have a bit of chest pain as well. We're going to give you guys antibiotics for her to take by mouth at home. She should be back to normal in a week to two weeks. Don't let her go to school until you know she's ready." She pauses. "We're not having her stay overnight, but she wants to see you." She points at me. "And only you."

"Okay…"

"So if you'll just follow me…" she starts to walk, and I follow her.

I'm still damp from being in the pouring rain and my hair is very curly now because that's what it does when it's wet.

She leads me up to floor three.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask. She stops walking and turns to me.

"Sure."

"I have a four month old at home. What can I do to keep her and the rest of my kids from getting sick?"

"Just try and keep Addison away from the other kids. Make _everyone_ wash their hands before they touch her. If she does get sick, bring in here. It could be serious for an infant to get pneumonia."

"Okay, thank you."

She nods and starts walking again. I follow her. She stops out front of a shut door.

"This is her room. She's leaving, so…"

I nod, and she walks away.

Slowly, I open the door.

Addi looks at me, and I step all the way in the room and shut the door.

"How are you honey?" I walk all the way to her.

She shrugs. "Mom." She whispers. "I was going to kill myself. I tried. I stepping out into the road in front of a car and…they swerved around me. I did that when I was near that bar. It started raining and I wasn't feeling well and I sat down. I realized that I shouldn't be trying to kill myself I realize that I'm loved and that one day this whole this is going to be...like it never happened. That's when I called you."

"Oh honey." I whisper.

"I'm sorry Mommy. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Shh." I whisper. "It's okay."

"I know you guys love us. All of us. I know because you got stabbed by Rose and it didn't even faze you. I look up to you."

"I love you sweetie." I kiss her forehead.

"I love you too, Mama. When can I leave?"

"Now. You get to leave now. Are you dressed?"

"I'll get dressed."


	49. Chapter 49

I learned a lesson from Addison.

She said that everything will be okay as long as you're loved. A few months after that, I had a new song out.

It's called "So Small" and we made a music video for it.

When Prim's baby was born, a little boy named Aiden; she went to visit our parents. They forgave her, and the fighting stopped. We made up.

Now, two years later, we're standing at Rose and Ryan's graduation. Brooklyn is walking up and down the stairs. I pick her up and take her back to the family, and I point out her brother and sister and tell her she has to be quiet.

Their names are called and we all start cheering. My whole family is here and so is Peeta's so we're taking up a huge group.

We wait, and when they throw the caps in the air, everyone in the whole audience starts cheering. Confetti goes all over the sky, and then everyone is running down the stairs out to the field. I pick up Brook and rush the little kids, who aren't so little anymore, down the stairs out to the field.

The kids are hugging us and they're laughing at me because I'm crying.

They're both nineteen now.

After taking pictures and watching the fireworks, we go out to dinner where all of their friends are there, and their friend's family. Rose's boyfriend is here and so is Ryan's. Rose whispers something to Ryan and he nods, and then Rose kisses Jared (her boyfriend) and she whispers something to him and he nods and whispering something back to her.

"I have an announcement to make." Rose says. Everyone goes quiet and gives her their utmost attention. "Now…I'm going to college online…and I know you might be mad at me for this…I know I'm still young…"

She's pregnant. I know she is. I can feel it. She was throwing up yesterday morning and this morning and I kept fretting over her and she was fine. Her back has been hurting for a while and I saw her grabbing at her boobs and she was taking advil a few days ago for a migraine.

"Does anyone want to guess?"

"Your pregnant." I state simply.

Everyone looks at me in shock.

Rose looks…pale.

Peeta looks at me, and then at her, and then at me again.

"You're _pregnant_?" he demands.

"I…how the hell did you know that?" she demands.

"Let's see…back pain…your boobs have been hurting…headaches…morning sickness." I pause. "And some other _noises_ heard coming from your bedroom about two months ago." I raise my eyebrows and her entire face gets red.

Peeta looks at me and then at Rose again. "What-" I shoot him that glare, the one I give the kid when they're pushing it.

"Are you mad?" she asks me.

I'm quiet for a few moments. "Nah." I shake my head. "You're nineteen and you've been with him for a year now. I'm not mad."

She looks at Peeta. "Are _you_ mad?"

He sinks back in his chair and rakes his fingers through his hair. "I don't know." He finally says. "I'm going outside." He gets up and walks out. Rose gets up to go after him, but I put my hand up.

"He's fine." I say.

"He's mad."

"No he's not. He's in shock. He'll come around."

She hesitates. "Can you go talk to him?"

I nod and get up and follow him out.

He's sitting against the restaurant, more like squatting. His elbows are on his knees and his palms are covering his eyes. He looks pretty damn sexy, but I ignore the heat in my abdomen and kneel down in front of him.

"Hey." I say lightly.

"She's my little girl." He whispers. "And she's pregnant."

"Yes." I say. "But she is also nineteen, she is happy, healthy, beautiful, in a strong relationship, she's going to start college…we did good, Peeta."

"We're too young to be grandparents."

I snort. "Fuck that. We're not too young. I wish I was nineteen again."

He snorts. "Twenty two." He says. "That way, I'd have you with me." he stands up and holds his hand out to me. I take it, and he pulls me up, into his warm embrace.

"I didn't think we were ever going to have nine kids at the age of thirty one."

"Me either." He whispers. "And I also thought I'd never have a women like you."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He whispers.

Sure, we're young. Sure, we have a lot of kids, but I don't care. Who cares how old we are? We've done a good job with the kids.

Who knows. We're still pretty young. Maybe there could be more kids in the future.


End file.
